Ignition
by Araceil
Summary: DISCONTINUED - REWRITTEN UNDER REIGNITION. Magic never works properly in water, but no one could have predicted what would happen when Harry uses something more complicated in the Second task. Sending him hurtling into the Grand Line and the Strawhats.
1. Chapter 1

**IGNITION**

* * *

**I got bit by the One Piece bug, and you know what I'm like with Crossovers. It had to be written – or I wasn't going to be able to sleep. XD**

**Here's to hoping you guys enjoy!**

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Summary

_Slash, very little canon divergence(1), Blood, Gore, Manga and Anime refs._

Magic is unpredictable at best, chaotic at worst – no one could have predicted the backlash of magic in the Second Task when Harry attempted to use something more complex than a '_Relashio_'. No one could have known what would happen, or where Harry would end up. Four years after his disappearance, Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Cat Thief Nami and Usopp rescue a man lost at sea who has no memory of life before he awoke on a beach in the Grand Line.

**Pairings are a SECRET! 8D But. They have all been decided with the exception of Robin who gets a choice between Franky and Sirius (atm: I'm leaning to Franky. The Mr and Mrs Smith Vibe I get from them is just too hilarious – see Thriller Bark arc if you want to know what I mean.)**

**There will be Slash. **

**And, ****importantly****, Luffy will NOT be paired with anyone from the Strawhat Crew. And Harry won't be paired with anyone from the HP universe either. **

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**Chapter One**

* * *

_Blue skies overhead._

_Fluffy cotton-wool buds of clouds, stretched out across the horizon._

_A single tiny pinpoint of light, of white and pale yellow, heat seeping into his body as it beat down upon the world._

_The distant cry of a gull._

_The scent of salt-water, of seaweed and brine, of rich thick soil, of ripe fruit and heat caught on the gentle breeze sweeping across him, cool air smoothing the burn of the sun overhead._

_Green eyes stared absently above, almost unseeing in how glazed they were._

_He was on an island._

_Long sandy beaches with hot white sand, an ocean with turquoise shallows and deep sapphire blue depths, a heron's egg blue sky with fluffy white clouds overhead, and a jungle with thick undergrowth, rampant plant life and animals of every kind behind. An island in the middle of the sea, not a soul in sight or sound, all alone._

_Thin fingers tightened on a slender length of Holly in his hand, taking comfort from the inner warmth the simple innocuous twig of light coloured wood gave him, tracing the grain patterns that felt familiar but for the life of him he could not remember._

_He didn't know – couldn't remember – how he got there. Where he came from. Who he even was._

_It was gone, nothing there, the barest of fuzzy recollections, he could remember a dim face, blue eyes that seemed to twinkle mockingly from behind half-moon spectacles, a tiny room with shelves lining every wall and a thin ratty cot on the floor, a pile of dirty misshapen clothing as pillow and blanket, the smell of something greasy cooking, the pain of skin splitting and the distant scream of a woman engulfed in green light._

Amnesia,_ his brain provided, unhelpfully,_ severe retrograde amnesia possibly brought about by head trauma – unlikely though, there's no head injury. Possible Post Traumatic Stress making the memories repressed? Or is there internal damage to the hippocampus?_ He thought, staring at the clouds over head._ That one looks like a bunny._ He chuckled absently, his memory was a mess, his mind was a mess, his clothes were a mess and so was he. He was a mess._

_Sitting up, the green eyed individual brushed sand grains from his body and tugged at an errant lock of hair._

_How long had he been here?_

_Two beautiful sunsets had passed in front of his eyes so he guessed it was about three days, he was getting a little peckish to be honest, and thirsty. Luckily for him there was a fresh-water spring not far inland and the trees were thick with fresh fruit and nuts so it didn't look like he would be going hungry anytime soon._

"Land Hooo!"

_Unbidden, fuzzy faces with the same brilliant flame red hair danced in and out of recollection, just out of conscious grasp of their identities. He'd spotted the people tramping through the jungle and hidden himself in a hollow tree log, only to find himself getting hooked out by the scruff of his neck like an errant kitten by its mother, only it wasn't his mother, it was a tall man with long black hair, streaked grey, with kind eyes and a wrapped package over one shoulder. He'd then found himself being gently lowered to the ground in front of this strange red haired man who brought memories of a family he _knew_ he should know, but couldn't place._

"Ohaiyo, koneko-chan,"_ the man said, smiling broadly at him, his dark eyes twinkling warmly_, "Ore wa Shankusu. Yoroshuku ne. Dareka?"

"I don't understand. Who are you? Who... who am I?"

* * *

_**BANG!**_

Zoro jolted, his eyes snapping open from where he had been resting them, enjoying the calm of the afternoon now that they had finally finished painting the '**Luffy-Approved**' Jolly Roger on the main-sail and flag. He'd been about to drift off to sleep when the almighty sound shattered the peaceful atmosphere and ruined his enjoyment of the warm sun overhead seeping through his clothes and skin. Frowning and twisting around the mast to see the source of the sound, he paused and then glowered, "Oi, Luffy, what _are_ you doing?" he demanded, eyeing his Captain warily.

"Practising cannon shooting!" the younger teenager announced loudly, placing a hand at his forehead and squinting out to the sea as the cannonball he'd just launched hit the water with a splash, throwing spray a good eight feet into the air. "Apparently I am very bad at it!" he added matter of factly, glowering at the ocean as if it had moved the massive rock he had been aiming for to the side, just to thwart his attempts at gunning.

Zoro sighed and pushed himself to his feet, he should have known better than to relax even for a moment with Luffy prancing around on deck, sometimes he wondered if he was an idiot for choosing an idiot as his Captain. Usopp only managed to refrain from laughing at the look on the seventeen-year-old's face with the thought of finally being able to play with the cannons Kaya-chan had given them.

"Let me take a look!" he called enthusiastically, jogging up the steps to the deck where Luffy was stood.

"Shoot that rock," the dark haired teenager challenged, pointing to the very rock he had missed.

Usopp grinned and began to adjust the angle of the cannon, "OK!" he declared, tightening the rigging on the massive metal monster as he stuffed a packet of gunpowder down the canon and followed it up with the ball. He lined his eye along the barrel and hummed, "Maybe it's about... here!" Usopp ignited the fuse and looked up gleefully, eyes scanning the ocean for where the canon-ball would land; the sound and crash of rock exploding had the curly haired Pirate gaping in surprise, he had expected it to _miss!_

"Wooow!" Luffy crowed gleefully, "In one shot! You're really good Usopp!"

"Heh, who'd've thought it?" Nami asked in an undertone from Zoro's elbow, a small smile of amusement and oddly enough pride on her face.

Usopp grinned, staring at the ruin of the rock-face in excitement, opening his mouth to launch into another one of his monologues of greatness only to freeze, eyes catching sight of a dark shape floating on the water. That wasn't a rock... rocks didn't float.

"What... what's that?" he asked quietly, digging into his shoulder bag for the telescope Kaya had given him for his fifteenth birthday. Snapping it out, he placed the piece to his eye and trained it on the shape floating on the churning water.

"Na, Usopp, what is it?" Luffy asked, pumping his arms as Zoro and Nami approached, curious about what was going on now.

Usopp gasped, eyes widening as he took in the sight of the figure sprawled across a ruined section of wood, clinging to it with bloody fingers.

"Man overboard!" he practically howled pointing to the figure as the rest of the group crowded at the railings to see.

Nami gasped, "He's tipping!" she cried, spotting the way the waves were threatening to flip the scrap of wood and dislodge the figure clinging so desperately to it.

"Yosh! _Gomu Gomu no_ –"

"No you can't!" Nami shouted, grabbing the stretched out limb, "He could be injured, you might make it worse!" she shouted at her idiot captain.

"O-o-o-o-oi Zoro!"

The two looked up just in time to see their Swordsman take a dive into the water – Usopp trying to juggle all three swords without dropping them as the green haired 19-year-old propelled himself through the water to the distant figure.

"Wonder who it is..." Usopp muttered, watching as Zoro dove under the water to grab at the sinking figure.

"Who knows," Nami muttered, "Maybe it's another Pirate or the victim of one..." she trailed off, glancing up at the Jolly Roger emblazoned upon their sails, absently wondering how the Drifter would react to being saved by pirates.

"What's taking so long?" Luffy complained, eyeing the water for any sign of Zoro.

It was a well known fact in East Blue that Zoro had a very poor sense of direction, it was only pure luck that had the high waves move the floating piece of scrap wood into his path just in time to witness the person clinging to it, slip off and into the water. Cursing under his breath, he sucked in a deep breath and dove down, ignoring the cold that was beginning to seep into his flesh as he pursued the sinking figure down into the darkness of the ocean. They weren't sinking fast but the weight of the backpack clutched in a senseless pale hand was dragging them down faster than a normal person would sink.

Thankfully though, Zoro was strong enough to move through the water with little difficulty. Grabbing at a thin limp wrist he straightened in the water, curving his spine as he dragged the figure up and towards him, not taking much stock in their appearance as he wrapped a second arm around their waist and swam upwards, feeling light headed with lack of oxygen and a faint buzzing pain in his ears from the changes in pressure.

Breaking the surface he choked in a lungful of sweet, salty sea air and twisting around to find the Going Merry.

"Oi! Zoro, over here!" Luffy yelled happily, seeing his friend finally reach the surface, wet black hairy thing in his arms.

Catching sight of his Captain waving his arms like a windmill, he grumbled quietly and swum awkwardly back to the Going Merry, limp deadweight in his arms.

"Luffy! Get over here and help us pull them up!" Nami ordered, throwing down the rope ladder for Zoro to climb on, with his arms currently full he wasn't going to be able to safely climb up the ladder. Luffy nodded and hopped down from his favourite seat to help the ginger-haired Thief and Usopp pull in their swordsman, "One-two-three-_**heave!**_" Nami called once she'd made sure Zoro was attached to the ladder. The three of them yanking backwards on the rope and practically wrenching Zoro out of the water and onto the ship in one solid rush of movement.

Opting to cut them into ribbons later, Zoro pulled himself off the figure he'd landed on and began checking him over, "He's not breathing," he told them grimly, only to grunt as Nami shoved him aside and pressed her fingers to his skin.

"He has a pulse, but it's insanely weak," she exclaimed before adjusting the limp body, pulling his backpack off and shoving it at Usopp before taking a knife and cutting away his skirt, hissing in sympathetic pain at the livid angry bruises that stretched across his ribs and stomach – there was a clear boot-tread pattern in dark purple relief on his pale skin just a little bit away from the rest of the black and green mottled pattern. There were a number of clumsily wrapped wounds done with strips from his trousers – now shorts – and his shirt, they were still bleeding ever so slightly in the salt water. The young woman shook it off and tilted the boy's head up, pinching his nose shut and then blowing into his mouth, she would wrap them later, or better yet, get Zoro to do it for her.

Luffy frowned and looked at Usopp, "Why's Nami kissing that stranger?" he asked curiously as she broke away and used the palm of her hands to press down on the man's chest, chanting '_one-two-three-four-one-two-three-four_' under her breath before pinching his nose and blowing air into his lungs again.

"It's CPR Luffy. Not Kissing." Usopp told him with a frown, was he really that stupid?

"Oh," the Captain confirmed before turning to watch the proceedings, just as green eyes flew open and the young man spat up, rolling to the side and coughing out a mixture of blood and water onto the deck.

"Thank goodness, you'll be alright now," Nami sighed happily, sitting back as she rubbed the stranger's back, smiling as he finished spitting up seawater, green eyes hazy and pain filled craning up to see her.

"_Thank you,_" he croaked before losing consciousness.

Luffy blinked, "Na... '_Sankyuu_'? Three Nine? What does that mean?" he asked.

Nami blinked and shook her head, "I... don't know. Usopp, what did he have in his bag?" she asked, glancing to the curly haired teenager who paused for a bare split second as if fighting with his morals and then opened up the sopping wet knap-sack.

"Spare change of clothes, gloves, a knife, soggy map of East Blue, handful of Belli, two apples, flint and a small lock-box, oh and a weird necklace," he listed, laying each of the objects out on the deck as the stranger shivered in his wet clothes.

The clothes were a simple pair of white trousers and a red top, the gloves were a pair of sodden black leather things, the knife was just a single edged blade with leather wrapped around one end of it, the map of East Blue may have been valuable if the ink hadn't run all to hell and made it illegible – and stained the white trousers – the Belli were all soggy and a little mashed together but Nami estimated he had about3,000. Luffy ate the apples before they even touched the wood of the deck – Zoro hit him in the back of the head – the flint was a small cylinder with a hole bored through it attached to a small length of string, she'd seen it done before by Pirates who often went exploring uncharted islands, Flint was more reliable at starting fires than tinder so they tended to tie a small piece of it to their clothing so as not to lose it. The Lockbox was just that, a metal box that oddly enough didn't have a keyhole, it sounded like there was stuff in there but it was completely airtight, no water had gotten in and there was no way for her to pick the lock and open it up. And lastly, the strange necklace, because it was pretty damn strange. A length of wood on a red leather thong, it was pale Holly wood in the shape of a blunt stake but with a handle, a small hole had been bored through the handle to thread the leather. An ever so delicate design of a bird had been carved onto the grain with an unskilled hand.

Nami grumbled, "Alright, lets stick him in one of the backrooms until he wakes up. Zoro, I think you should guard him, Luffy would probably let him escape and if he turns out to be pretty strong Usopp and I would be useless," Zoro grumbled about taking orders from someone who wasn't the Captain but never the less scooped the stranger up and took him inside, "Oh and get him changed into some dry clothes, or he'll just get sick!" she called after him as she helped Usopp repack the stranger's belongings, swiping the Belli as she did so – after all, they would need _some_ compensation for their troubles.

* * *

Zoro muttered grumpily under his breath as he finally sat down, having taken the stranger into Nami's room – which was the only one he could reach without possibly jarring one of his injuries – and stripped him out of the wet clothing, cleaned and bandaged the multitude of punctures that looked to have been made with some kind of spear or sharp ended bullet, he'd then ended up having to get some of his own clothing to dress the stranger, Luffy's clothes all reeked of raw meat and probably hadn't been washed since they were given to the Straw Hat moron, he wasn't going to use Nami's clothes on another man because that would just be insulting and Usopp's clothes were covered in gunpowder which was itchy and uncomfortable. Really, was he the ONLY one in the crew that kept his clothes clean?

The swordsman supposed it was just a carry on from living with Kuina's father, he had once told him that to not take care of one's belongings means that one simply does not deserve to have them. He had, of course, been talking about sword maintenance at the time but it was something that Zoro had taken to heart – for the most part in any case and ironically enough, not for any other sword than Kuina's.

Usopp had appeared only very briefly to drop off the stranger's bag and take the wet clothes to go and hang up on deck, they should dry soon, hopefully before the stranger woke up and wondered why he was in someone else's clothes and put two and three together and figured out he'd been stripped and reclothed. Some people got a bit iffy about that.

He yawned absently and glanced to the stranger when he heard him shifting slightly.

All that Zoro could think of when he saw him was that he was far too pale to be healthy, his skin was almost a milky-white colour, which he couldn't say with any amount of certainty was due to blood-loss either, but when coupled with his below the shoulder length black hair and the blue tracery of veins on his eyelids and the lingering blue on his lips it made him seem sickly and fragile. His body had quite firmly brushed that idea aside, he had muscle mass and a collection of scars to rival his own, long limbs and a body built for speed and agility more than for physical strength and endurance. His features were somewhat exotic as well, obviously not from East Blue, or West or North Blue for that matter, South Blue maybe – he'd never been there so he wasn't sure – and the Grand Line was a possibility too, he'd heard legends of Giants and Angels in the Grand Line so people with funny faces wasn't so far out of the realm of possibility. High cheek-bones, slightly sunken in with starvation, a straight nose that was slightly upturned, thin lips and a narrow jaw, his eyes were shaped differently as well, more rounded and larger, lacking the slightly upswept angle that almost everyone he'd met possessed. He didn't _look_ feminine, if anything he was no Bishounen, his features were just a little too sharp, the long hair just didn't help him much in the whole 'effeminate' category.

Zoro frowned, leaning over the figure as he noticed his eyes moving restlessly beneath the lids.

It would occur to him a split second later that perhaps looming over someone in their sleep was a bad idea. Especially when all evidence pointed towards that person being a fighter.

It would also occur to him that he needed more training in how to take down opponents without causing them harm.

And that the stranger had a rather odd, nearly invisible lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

But as it was, Zoro only just managed to wrench himself backwards in time to avoid a fist to the chin as green eyes snapped open, he cursed as he automatically jerked backwards and grabbed for a sword hilt that wasn't there as the figure twisted his legs around and launched himself from the bed straight at him, Zoro's _own sword_ pointed towards him.

There was a clash and shriek of metal on metal as the green haired swordsman only just managed to pull Kuina's sword to meet the blow. Gritting his teeth as he was bent backwards, the stranger putting his whole weight behind the blow and pressing down on Wado Ichimonji, oddly enough, with the flat edge of his blade.

"What the hell?" the green clad swordsman growled, pushing experimentally against the other male, "Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"Right back at ya," the stranger bit out, his was a little softer than Zoro's, distinctly male though and right now rough and croaked, "Where am I and who the hell are you?" he pressed against the green haired male's blade with a bare toothed snarl, forcing him backwards a step.

A fair question, he decided, if he'd woken up in a strange place with someone looming over him he wouldn't be best pleased either. "You're on our ship; we saw you drifting and brought you on board," he explained.

"Oh?" he asked sceptically, "And why would a Pirate do something like that?"

How the hell this guy knew they were pirates was completely beyond Zoro – the fact that they obviously weren't on a marine ship and there was a suspicious character armed with swords standing guard was a bit of a give away but no one could accuse him of being the sharpest crayon in the box when it came to drawing logical conclusions.

A loud crash on deck saved him from answering, and distracted the stranger enough for Zoro to act and disarm him.

He twisted Kuina's blade, metal shrieking as he rammed the hilt into the stranger's temple, knocking him aside like a rag doll and sending the stolen blade to the far side of the room. He rolled to his feet and looked up just in time for Zoro's hand to close on his jaw and pin him against the wall of the room before he could damage any of Nami's belongings – woman would probably make him pay to replace them.

Pale hands grabbed his arm, thin fingers digging into his skin ruthlessly as the taller swordsman lifted him off the ground, twisting his body to he wasn't going to get a kick to the family jewels.

"Because you were in trouble, that's why. Now are you going to keep attacking me or are you going to settle down so we can talk?" he demanded, giving the other male's face a warning squeeze, threatening to dislocate or break the other male's much more delicate jaw.

For a moment, it looked as if he was going to continue to attack before he released a short huff and dropped his arms, looking away pointedly. It was as good as a surrender as he was going to get. Sighing warily, Zoro released the stranger and allowed him to slide to the floor, rubbing at his jaw with an almost petulant look on his face as he stood back up.

"Roronoa Zoro," the green haired male introduced himself.

"Namikaze Kai, nice to meet you, I guess."

"Kai?" Zoro asked, a smile threatening to curl onto his mouth. That was a girl's name, a girl's name meaning '_Of the Sea_' of all things.

Green eyes narrowed, "Oh yes, ha ha ha. Don't you fucking dare," he hissed warningly, Zoro held his hands up peaceably, taking a step back and fighting not to start laughing at the indignant and generally embarrassed and pissed off expression on the shorter male's face. It was quite funny how the long haired male had bristled over the implied mocking of his name, even his hair seemed bigger for some reason, kind of like a porcupine. "The Old Bastard thought it would be funny," he said by means of explanation, who the '_old bastard_' was Zoro could only guess was the stranger's father.

"I wasn't going to say a thing," he promised, fighting back the smirk that was twitching at the corners of his mouth at the sceptical look on Kai's face.

"Suuuure, you weren't," he retorted sarcastically.

" – **DESTROYING MY SHIP!**" CRASH!

What in the hell was Luffy up to now?

Making his way out of the room, after pausing briefly to pick up his fallen sword, he paused at the stairs upon seeing Luffy sat cross legged on the floor, the railings broken into splinters, slice marks on the mast and broken barrels littered across the deck, and one very familiar swordsman. It was hard to forget someone who tattooed their face.

"Johnny?" he asked, a little bit wary about running into an old friend this coincidentally.

The man seemingly blinked, it was hard to tell with the sunglasses, and was instantly on his feet, the injuries he got from his brief tussle with Luffy vanishing. "Zoro-Aniki!" he practically howled, flailing his arms around in a mixture of relief, glee and surprise. That sealed it; this was Johnny, no one else acted like some kind of adoring puppy towards him.

"What happened? Where's Yosaku?" he asked, recalling the other young man who partnered with Johnny in their little Bounty Hunting expeditions. The relief in his eyes turned to concern and desperation as Johnny flailed a little more.

* * *

A little while later, after Nami and Usopp had stopped hiding in the kitchen and Johnny had pulled Yosaku onto the ship, everyone had clustered on the lower deck.

"Sick?" Zoro asked, eyeing his former friend, he really didn't look all that well. He was pale as death with unpleasant and painful looking spots littered across his skin – particularly his legs, bleeding from his nose, his teeth had even fallen out, that couldn't have been good. He was sprawled out across the deck, motionless with laboured breathing, Usopp looked nauseated to even be within ten feet of someone so obviously ill while Luffy was morbidly interested – asking if he could still poop while in such a state only to be ignored.

"Yeah," Johnny admitted, his voice quivering as he sat next to his bestfriend, head in his hands, his shoulders slumped as if all the helplessness and fear for his bestfriend's life weighed down on his back. "Three days ago he was still healthy, but then he passed out and I don't know _why_," he shuddered slightly, "His teeth started coming out, his old wounds started bleeding again. I didn't know what to do," he whimpered, rubbing furiously at his face as his friend made a soft gurgling moan in the back of his throat, "We took a rest at that island, and then... _This ship shot its cannon at us!_"

Luffy and Usopp freaked.

"We're so sorry!" the pair exclaimed, bowing deeply to the dark haired Bounty Hunter who didn't even look at them and just sniffled.

"It's okay, since you apologised I won't get the Marines on you guys," he reassured them. "The names '_Yosaku_' and '_Johnny_' have become known to many Pirates," he explained, tears now dribbling down his cheeks as the stress of it all caught up with him, "He's my best buddy. He's been helping me in Pirate Hunting for _years_. Please Aniki... will he live?"

Zoro swallowed, he couldn't answer that, he didn't _know!_ It certainly didn't _look_ like Yosaku was going to be able to make it! He didn't even know what was wrong with him!

"IDIOTS!" the two men jolted and scowled at Nami's bellow.

"What did you say?" Zoro snarled, hands fisting as he glared hot death at the ginger haired woman.

"You think my friend's death is stupid!" Johnny growled, already half rising to his feet, sword in hand.

Nami rolled her eyes and jerked her thumb at the kitchens, "Luffy, Usopp, go to the kitchens and get all the lemons and limes and bring them back here with a knife," she ordered, the two teenagers saluting her sloppily and rushing upstairs to follow her orders.

"L-lemons?" Johnny asked, completely lost as Kai peered out from behind Zoro, making the swordsman jolt and glare at him – he childishly stuck his tongue out in reply, he wasn't sitting around in someone else's room on his own when stuff was happening elsewhere. And really, a swordsman should have more awareness of people sneaking up behind them, Shitty Niisama would have known right off the bat, then again, it _was_ Shitty Niisama. An impossible level to hold some East Blue Rookie to.

"Yeah, he has Scurvy," Nami explained, eyeing Kai briefly in wary curiosity before turning to Johnny, "If it's not too late, he should get better within two or three days," the thief explained as Luffy and Usopp rushed back with the required fruits and began to squeeze them into his open mouth with little success – getting more juice on his face and the blanket under him than in his mouth.

"Is it true Anesan!" Johnny yelped enthusiastically in her ear.

Nami scowled, "Don't call me Anesan," she ordered as Luffy suddenly grinned and shoved a lime down the older man's mouth, Usopp looking at the lemon in his own hand before following suit, the two of them shoving as many of the things in as possible. "In the past, anyone who got Scurvy would die," she began to explain, "however the cause of Scurvy is a lack of Vitamin C," she shrugged, "In those days, ships didn't store any kind of fruit or vegetable."

"So it was inevitable that the crew members would come down with it," Kai finished from where he was stood beside Zoro.

"Yup," Nami agreed, a slight frown on her face as she looked at him again.

Luffy gaped, "You two are _miracle doctors!_" he exclaimed in excitement. He didn't notice as Yosaku's face started to turn blue and he began to gag.

Usopp nodded, his arms folded in smug confidence, "I knew you were good," he declared making Nami shriek, "_IF YOU WANT TO BECOME A PIRATE YOU SHOULD KNOW SIMPLE THINGS LIKE THIS!_"

"MOVE!" the stranger snapped, shoving Usopp aside and sticking his fingers in Yosaku's throat, yanking out all the fruits the two idiot pirates had shoved into him.

"What are you doing!" Johnny bellowed.

"He's choking you moron!" Kai snapped as he finished fishing out the fruit and then slammed a fist down on the sick man's chest, angling it slightly to hit his diaphragm and push it upwards. Yosaku choked and spasmed, a large chunk of green fruit spitting from his mouth and hitting the deck in front of Usopp's foot. "Just breathe, slowly," he ordered as the Pirate Hunter coughed and rasped, a hand weakly rubbing at his neck. Then –

"I'M HEALTHY AGAIN!" Yosaku yelled happily, launching himself to his feet and dancing around, startling Kai into falling backwards.

"Yeah! My buddy is strong now!" Johnny cheered, joining in.

"SCURVY ISN'T CURED THAT FAST!" Nami screeched in alarm.

All of a sudden the two of them were posing beside the ship's railing, "Sorry. Allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Johnny," he announced, as though they had not yet figured this out.

"And I am Yosaku. We used to be Pirate Hunters at the same level as Zoro-Aniki. Pleased to meet all of you," he then grinned and bent down to eye level with Kai, "Especially you pretty-miss." He didn't notice the dark haired male twitch rather violently and grit his teeth. "How can I repay you? I seriously thought I was going to die," he admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he got back to his feet, the so called '_Pretty Miss_' getting up and going to stand beside Zoro with her arms folded and a scowl in place as she kicked the smirking swordsman in the shin.

Johnny shook his head at the by play, "However, it's unbelievable that Zoro the Pirate Hunter, is now a Pirate himself," he admitted. Apparently he shouldn't have dropped that particular bomb because the shock of hearing what had befallen his '_Aniki_' caused Yosaku to spit up blood again and collapse. "YOSAKU!"

"_Just shut up and rest!_" Zoro shouted at them.

Kai shook his head, he'd had enough, it was official, he was stuck on a ship with idiots and the terminally insane. Good grief. "Is it alright with you guys if I take him to the room I was in before? He still needs time to recover," he pointed out, half wanting to get away from the eccentric people who had rescued him and half wanting to make sure nothing had gone missing out of his stuff.

Nami shook her head, "No it's fine. Just don't get blood on the sheets," she requested, absently wondering just what the hell his name was and since when were they so buddy-buddy with a complete stranger.

He nodded, grabbing Yosaku and tossing him casually over his shoulder and made his way up the stairs, swordsman trailing along after him like a lost puppy.

"Na, Zoro... who was that?" Luffy asked, nodding to where the three men had disappeared off to.

Zoro rolled his arm in his shoulder, "Says his name is Namikaze Kai – "

Usopp snorted and burst out laughing, "K-Kai? T-that's a girl's name!" he exclaimed in hilarity.

Nami shook her head, Usopp was so sheltered, Kai was a unisex name, it was only in East and North Blue that people considered it feminine, in South and West Blue it was considered quite masculine where as she'd heard it was an equally male/female name in the Grand Line.

Zoro shrugged, "Apparently his Old Man thought it would be funny or something. Anyway, that's all I managed to get before Johnny showed up, that and he knows how to handle a sword fairly well."

"How did you find that out?" Nami asked.

"He stole one of mine and attacked me with it," he admitted, scratching the back of his head.

She bit her lip, "Should we let someone like that stay on board?" she asked nervously.

"He's already said he won't attack us. Plus he helped Yosaku," Zoro pointed out, besides, if push came to shove, he and Luffy could kick his ass right back to wherever he came from.

"So he's a good guy," Luffy declared, pleased. "Think he'll want to join our crew?" he asked excitedly.

Zoro shrugged, "Hard to say, he might want to look for survivors from whatever it was that shipwrecked him."

Nami sighed and leaned back on the stairs where she was sitting, "Never the less, this is a good lesson. The whole Scurvy thing, that is," she clarified.

"I never knew we could easily get sick like that," Zoro admitted, frowning, he didn't like the idea of dying from some kind of _illness_, he was a swordsman! He lived by the blade and if he had his way he would die on it.

Usopp nodded grimly, "If they hadn't found us, Yosaku wouldn't have survived," he admitted quietly, glancing up to Nami's room where the three strangers were currently enscrolled. He sighed and leaned back, putting his hands behind his head, "On a long journey, the one who can make sure everyone has enough food... is the chef," he pointed out.

"Come to think of it," Nami began a thoughtful frown on her face, "A Chef is very important."

Luffy grinned, almost maniacally. "Okay I've decided! We should look for a chef so we'll be able to eat good food!" he declared, bringing a small chuckle to Zoro, honestly, how simple minded could you get?

"Aniki?" the group glanced over to see Johnny with his arm stretched up, as if asking for permission to speak in kiddy school.

"What is it Johnny?" Zoro asked, shouldn't he have been stood over Yosaku watching every move Kai made like a hawk?

"If you're looking for a chef," he began, a small excited grin coming onto his face, "I'd like to recommend a place, but I'm not sure if anyone would join you though."

* * *

**And finished! XDD This chapter was both a pain and a lot of fun. I hope you guys like this One Piece/Harry Potter crossover. I know Stalker of Stories does, and I do as well ;D**

**Warning: Luffy will remain an idiot as is canon. Because I love that stretchy moron. XDDD**

**Review pleasums, tell me your opinions!**

Araceil

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**(1) Very Little Canon Divergence:** Basically, what I mean here is that for the majority of One Piece, there will be very little changes to the overall storyline. Some scenes may play out differently and some may be identical. It's just having Harry along for the ride. HOWEVER. I deliberated long and hard over how to make this work without making you, the readers, bored out of your skulls. If you wanted to read One Piece, the manga and the anime are just a Google search away. SO. This is what I came up with: Chapter Arcs.

For every Chapter I write, it will be selected scenes from an Arc that mostly focus on Harry. Such as the Baratie Arc, which shall feature in the next chapter, it will mostly follow Harry as everyone knows what happens in the fight between Luffy and Don Krieg. (I hasten to add that anyone who has seen the English version of One Piece, drop kick it out of the window and go and watch the Japanese version.)

**Stick with me for the next few chapters and tell me how you think this is going. Whether it works or not and if you have them, suggestions on improvements! XDD **

**And for any running gag ideas. I've got a few that I bandie about with Stalker of Stories but I need a few more ;3**

* * *

_Special Thanks to One Piece Wikia for the information, Stalker of Stories for listening to my rambling and for betaing this during the eyegougingly bad first draft with all it's bad Grammarz, and my housemates for putting up with my laptop playing out episodes on repeat during the early hours of the morning._

**16/05/2010: Just a little editing as Ffnet decided it didn't like my page breaks.**


	2. Chapter 2

**IGNITION**

* * *

**Hee.**

* * *

Summary

_Slash, very little canon divergence, Blood, Gore, Manga and Anime refs._

Magic is unpredictable at best, chaotic at worst – no one could have predicted the backlash of magic in the Second Task when Harry attempted to use something more complex than a '_Relashio_'. No one could have known what would happen, or where Harry would end up. Four years after his disappearance, Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Cat Thief Nami and Usopp rescue a man lost at sea who has no memory of life before he awoke on a beach in the Grand Line.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

* * *

Yosaku was quite certain he had died and gone to heaven.

He remembered being so sick and weak that he couldn't move, then, pain and loud noises and darkness before cool, blessedly cool hands were gently caressing his face. Wiping away all his troubles and healing him as they fed him a mixture of lemon and lime juice, revitalising him with the heavenly liquid, so pure it made his very eyes water and his mouth pucker. He felt... _alive!_

And then he'd opened his eyes and seen the face of an angel. His Angel.

He'd heard legends of the Pirate Empress and the Mermaid Princess, of their beauty and grace, obviously the people who decide what became a legend and what didn't had never met this angel, never seen her. And she'd stayed by his side, even after he learned that no, this wasn't the Afterlife, but a kind of heaven on earth. Her cool hands and husky quiet voice soothing the raging heat of his body and the pounding of his skull, gently feeding him the revitalising juice with such tender care.

She even had an Angel's name, _Kai_... Of the Sea.

Now he was healthy enough to join the others at the Dinner table where as this morning he had been unable to do more than gurgle under Johnny's less than divine aid.

The kitchen was a small room, just enough room for everyone to sit at the table if Zoro-aniki sat on the floor – which he seemed perfectly happy with doing so as they shared out a pitcher of lemon juice with a simple dinner of Rice, grilled fish and buttered bread.

"You alright, Partner?" Johnny asked, wriggling from where he was sitting with Zoro on the floor.

"Hai!" Yosaku exclaimed with a pleased grin as the young 'woman' helped him in, "All thanks to my Tenshi here," he declared, gripping Kai's hand in both of his with a besotted expression on his face, making the dark haired male pull a face and take a step back, green eyes darting to Zoro as if asking for help. Zoro just smirked and took a mouthful of his drink.

Seeing that the swordsman would be of absolutely _no_ help – how typical – Kai attempted to let the other man down gently. Nightingale Syndrome wasn't something he was unfamiliar with, save someone's life and suddenly they believed they were in love with their rescuer, his appearance certainly didn't help him. But thankfully, most men seemed to get over it or recoil when they discovered he had balls between his legs instead of on his chest.

"Um... You do know that... I'm a man, right?" the long haired male asked flatly.

"_**AAAH**_!" Luffy yelled, eyes practically bugging out of his skull, food falling from his open mouth, "_**REALLY**_!"

"YOU SAW HIM WITHOUT HIS SHIRT EARLIER, IDIOT!" Nami and Usopp shrieked/shouted respectively, the ginger haired girl jabbing her chopsticks at him while Usopp waved a hand in disbelief.

Zoro snorted, quickly hiding his laughter in his mug before he got a kick to the face, as Johnny and Yosaku choked and stared at the now rather exasperated dark haired male. He had to admit, if he didn't know what was hiding under those clothes he probably would have made a similar mistake, Kai was rather slender for a man – not to mention he had quite delicate features, if Zoro had to guess, the other Pirate had to have taken after his mother in looks. At least, Zoro thought he did, having never met his mother.

Yosaku frowned slightly, lowering his hands but not releasing his grasp on his so called Angel, he thought hard for a moment before grinning, "Well... Male or female, an angel is an angel," he declared.

Nami had to refrain from giggling at the stunned look on Kai's face, "U-um, the lady here helped as well, w-with out her I never would have known what to do. You should thank her as well!" the older Pirate pointed out, turning Yosaku's attention away from him and onto Nami who squeaked as she found her hand being swept up into a vice grip.

"Thank you! Thank you, Anesan!" he exclaimed, unfortunately spraying spittle over her in his excitement.

"Don't call me Anesan. And don't spit on me either," she grunted, using her free hand to shove his face away from her.

Kai shook his head as he took a seat beside Usopp, honestly, he hadn't expected that to backfire. People of East Blue were not... well they weren't that open minded when it came to sexuality and crossdressing or even transgender – he had met men and women who had been gender swapped by the so called Miracle Worker Iva the Revolutionary Dragon's Right Hand, now an inmate of Impel Down, Marine Prison level 5.

"I'm Captain Usopp of the Usopp Pirates! Nice to meet you Kai-san," the younger curly haired Pirate greeted, stretching a hand out to the slightly shorter male who blinked at him in recognition. This was Yasopp-san's son? Well.... Usopp certainly seemed to have inherited his father's skin tone, lips and eyes, but that nose... his mother?

"Ah, nice to meet you Usopp-san," he returned, clasping the offered hand.

"Na! Na! I'm Monkey D Luffy. Nice to meet you!" he greeted, stretching his arm out across the table to shake the other male's hand. Nami half expected him to freak out but the dark haired male didn't even bat an eyelid, just accepted his hand with a slightly dazed '_pleased to meet you Luffy-san_' and a small surprised smile on his face.

"Ne, ne!" Luffy cried, leaning over the table to peer into Kai's face, his face screwed up in his '_SRS BZNZ_' face, "Join my crew!" he demanded.

The green eyed male blinked, leaning back slightly away from the younger male invading his personal space, "Join you guys?" he asked sceptically, Luffy nodded, "You're the second person to demand that in two weeks," he pointed out with a glare, "Why?"

Luffy sat back down, a perturbed look on his face, "Dunno. Join me!" he demanded, waving an arm and snatching Usopp's grilled fish much to the other teenager's anger.

Kai blinked as he watched the exchange, scowl dissolving, the others seemed to be ignoring it easily enough – exceptions being Johnny and Yosaku, did this happen at _every_ meal?

"Say, we've heard a lot about Yosaku and Johnny from Zoro but we know next to nothing about you Kai-san. Where do you come from? How old are you? Why where you drifting around out at sea?" Nami asked as she pushed a plate of food towards the dark haired male.

Kai eyed her coolly for a moment; the ginger haired girl refraining from shivering slightly as green eyes pierced her uncomfortably and Usopp and Luffy got a little louder, a moment later, the sensation passed as the other Pirate picked up a fork and began to eat.

"Well, a bit of everywhere I guess," he finally answered between mouthfuls, "I'm about twenty, I think. Not sure and the ship's Doctor couldn't tell either. I was working on a Merchant ship as protection from Sea Kings, don't get them very often in East Blue but this close to the Grand Line it's always a possibility," he explained, "It was a supply run, we were heading towards Tequila Wolf with raw materials, food supplies, winter gear. Pirates ambushed us, usually it wouldn't be a problem but... they had no honour," he sneered darkly, baring his teeth as he reached for a glass of lemon juice, everyone in the room hanging on his every word.

"The Captain used this gas, not poison, a kind of paralysis drug. Knocked out a large number of people, nearly killed the children on board, I wasn't affected as badly as the Civilians but still pretty bad. I couldn't fight back properly. They destroyed the ship, it's doubtful anyone else survived, they were just ordinary civilians and merchants, not pirates," he admitted uncomfortably, now picking absently at his food, no longer hungry as he remembered their faces. There had been _children_ on board that ship. Little kids who followed him around like he was the Pirate King himself, they thought he was the coolest person in the whole of East Blue, so naïve...

"Who?" Yosaku growled, bristling with indignant fury, "Who was it? I'll cut them to shreds!" he hissed, seething with absolute fury. Johnny nodded furiously, getting to his feet to stand beside his best friend, gripping his sword in a white knuckled grip, fully prepared to join his Partner in avenging his Saviour.

Kai gave them a flat look, green eyes studying the pair up and down carefully before he finally said, "I think these guys are out of your league."

"You doubt our strength!" Johnny demanded, flailing.

He set his fork down and turned to them, Zoro twitched slightly at the look on his face, the hair on the back of his neck rising, "You are two people, essentially only one with Yosaku being so frail. They have over _a hundred_ people and an arsenal of weapons unlike anything you can imagine. Yes. Against these people I do," he stated frigidly, "Now sit down and eat your dinner," he ordered, sounding remarkably like Bellemere-san to Nami's ears. There was silence for a bit as everyone ate their food, the Straw Hats deciding to remain firmly out of the argument, Zoro more out of amusement than anything, while Yosaku and Johnny meekly sat down to eat their meals, cowed and suddenly, rather uncomfortably, reminded of their mothers.

"Who was it?" Zoro asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

Kai's eyes flicked over to him before he huffed slightly, picking his fork up again, "Don Krieg," he finally admitted, making the room fall silent.

"Don... Krieg? The... The Pirate Admiral Don Krieg?" Nami asked, her features bleaching white.

Kai nodded, "Yeah. And a right sneaky bastard he is too."

"Aneki, what do you know about him?" Yosaku asked, forkful of fish and rice half raised toward his mouth.

Nami sighed, "He's something of a monster to be honest. He used to sneak into ports with a Marine ship and attack everyone, stealing what he wanted without anyone ever having enough time to muster up some kind of defence or offence against him. Word has it that he has a crew of almost over 5,000 men and who knows how many ships, the Marines gave him a huge Bounty of 17,000,000 Belli and labelled him the most Powerful Pirate in East Blue ahead of Arlong if only because he had sheer numbers on his side. He's supposed to have gone to the Grand Line though."

Kai nodded, "He did," he smirked then, a knife-like angry expression that caused shivers to run down the Thief's back, "But he came crawling back after a week with all his ships but one _shredded_."

Luffy tilted his head from side to side, "Only a week?" he asked disbelievingly, before laughing uproariously, "He must be _really_ weak then!" he exclaimed mirthfully.

Kai smirked, "Only reason he has such a high bounty is because he uses sheer numbers to overwhelm his opponents, but I wouldn't underestimate him Luffy. He's a sneaky underhanded bastard who won't hesitate to use any form of skulduggery."

Luffy blinked, "Sku-_whut_?"

* * *

The room was quiet, dimly he could hear the sounds of revelry taking place upstairs, of Usopp and Johnny roaring with laughter, the sound of Luffy hitting the ground – had he been dancing on the table again?

Zoro sighed deeply, reclining comfortably in his hammock, he had left early when they'd started to sing, happy as he was to see Yosaku and Johnny again they just couldn't sing and he wasn't going to submit his ears to that torture ever again. Cracking open an eye briefly as the ceiling hatch slid open he grunted slightly in greeting as the somewhat familiar shape of Namikaze climbed his way down the ladder. In the dim light of the oil lamp hanging from the wall, Zoro could see that he had changed his clothes, his stained white trousers – now bearing the dyed symbol of a compass on his thigh – and a red long sleeved shirt with a lace up collar.

"Thanks for letting me borrow your clothes," the older male told him when he finally reached the floor of the room, shifting so that the swordsman could see the shirt and trousers he had borrowed folded up neatly in his arms, Zoro blinked at the sight of them, he had actually forgotten.

"It's fine," he admitted, swinging himself out of the hammock to go and put them away. "Did Johnny say how long it might take to get to this floating restaurant?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Mmm, no he didn't. But with our current heading, if it's close to the Grand Line I'd say about two days, maybe three depending on how close it is to the Red Line," he explained as he sat down on one of the couches, blinking slightly when he sank into the soft fabric, he hadn't expected it to be so comfortable.

Zoro nodded climbing back into his hammock, he could tell the room was going to get a little crowded when the other guys returned from their merry-making, there was only about five hammocks so there should be enough for everyone considering how Kai was apparently going to be sleeping on the couch. But considering how drunk Yosaku was... Zoro really hoped the blond retained enough common sense not to try and crawl into the same bed as his '_Angel_', otherwise he really may end up seeing Angels when he got beaten to death – Kai didn't exactly come across as the cuddly sort, if one got his meaning.

"Earlier... you said you _thought_ you were about twenty, what's that supposed to mean?" Zoro asked, it had been bugging him for a while. The other male hardly looked twenty, in fact, he would be lucky if he could pass for a young seventeen – must be hell trying to get a beer in one of the very few _honest_ pubs on the Ocean.

"Exactly that," Kai admitted with a small puff of air from where he was lying down, hands braced under his head, "I don't know how old I am. Where I come from. Who my parents were. Nothing. I woke up on a beach four years ago with nothing but a few fuzzy recollections of my past life, a knife and a stick. Oh, and apparently the ability to speak complete gibberish."

"Gibberish?" Zoro quoted, peering over at him with a raised eyebrow.

The other male nodded, "Yup, gibberish. Or if you want to get technical, my mother tongue, first language, whatever. I had to be taught how to speak this language."

"What?" the swordsman squawked, sitting upright so fast his hammock upended and dumped him onto the floor with a heavy thud.

Kai burst out laughing.

Zoro glowered at him, "You hardly look twenty," he pointed out rubbing his head where he'd knocked it against the wood flooring as he got back to his feet and crawled into the hammock. He decided to ignore the comment about the language – everyone in the world spoke the same language, it was a known fact. Perhaps whatever gave him amnesia screwed him up more than he thought he'd been? Messed with his brain and made whatever he spoke come out as gibberish – hence why he needed to relearn how to speak. Yeah, that was probably it.

Kai nodded, smiling at he studied the ceiling's wood grain, "I know," he admitted easily, "But then again, you hardly look nineteen, Scowly-Puss," Zoro glowered down at him which only prompted a broad smirk from the green eyed male, "I got taken in by a rather '_Devil May Care_' Pirate Crew. Shanks kind of took me in, stupid one armed bastard wasted three weeks on some god forsaken armpit of an Island when he should have been heading back to the New World," Kai chuckled rubbing a hand across his face, "Benn-jichan said I had old eyes even if I had a teeny-bopper body, something about child abuse," he waved a hand dismissively, "Apparently my growth got stunted, my bones are a bit on the fragile side and I didn't get much sunlight – hence the pale skin that bruises so fucking easily," he stuck his tongue out irritably, "So they figured I'm probably older than I look and it's unlikely for someone younger than sixteen to have been shipwrecked in the same area as me."

"Where were you?" Zoro asked, curiosity gnawing at him.

The other male paused, peering up at him before snorting and laughing, "Ah-ha, now _that_ is a secret. For now. When I trust you guys some more I might tell you but you'll just have to stew in your curiosity till then."

Had Zoro been a lesser man, he would have pouted.

* * *

The following day passed quietly enough – minus explosions from Usopp, snoring from Luffy and quiet curses from Kai.

Zoro cleaned his swords while Yosaku and Johnny hastily followed suit, looking rather sheepish as they asked to borrow some of the oil the swordsman had bought before they'd left Usopp's hometown of Syrup village. Nami read a fantasy romance book on a deckchair, enjoying the breeze as the ship maintained a steady heading towards what they hoped was the Restaurant ship Baratie, Luffy snoozing away at her feet like some kind of loyal canine in the hot sun while Usopp sat on the main deck with his chemistry kit and made himself some more projectile pellets for tight situations. With nothing to do, and exceptionally bad at just sitting and waiting, Kai had gathered up everyone's old clothes and set himself about washing and repairing them as best he could – he wanted to repay them for saving him and it kind of reminded him of the old days before he reached East Blue, it was enough to make Nami _almost_ guilty about stealing his meagre amount of Belli. Almost.

That night, Kai had a nightmare. It was a familiar one, an old one, a faceless enemy hidden in shadows, a giant monster – a snake – and a girl with flaming red hair, a cave hidden underwater, and screaming, screaming women with red hair and a rush of cold green light and cruel laughter.

He woke in a cold sweat, a headache _pounding _in his skull and his heart racing a mile a minute. Panting quietly in the gloom of the bedroom, he pressed a hand against his clammy forehead before climbing out of bed; he spent the majority of the night outside on deck, his forehead pressed against the Going Merry's railing, soothing his headache and inner demons. Absently, he wished for his Shitty Niisama to sneak up behind him and try to poke him in the ass with that fucking oversized pig-sticker of his, just for shits and giggles. Or for Benn-jiichan or Shanks or Kaku or Kalifa or Shiima to give him a hug and usher him into the kitchen for something warm to drink. Goddamnit, he _missed_ them! All of them. Even his Shitty Niisama... Especially his Shitty Niisama.

He'd decided to go back to bed when the first rays of light began to peek from the horizon staining the sky pale pink and green, giving the Merry a gentle pat as he got to his feet and made his way back down the ladder into the boy's room. Stepping over cheerfully snoring Luffy sprawled out across the floor from where he'd fallen out of bed and curled up on the sofa again, burrowing his face into the fabric with a quiet sigh.

The next morning, Yosaku had pretty much prevented anyone from waking the dark haired male up, even going so far as to stand between the couch and Zoro when the other swordsman moved to wake the older male.

Yosaku had woken up a little bit before Kai the night before, he'd deliberated whether or not to go and wake him from the nightmare when the dark haired male had woken up anyway and left. Figuring he needed some time alone, Yosaku left him be and went back to sleep, only to wake up just before dawn as the other male came back in and curled up.

So it was only when Johnny and the others began shouting about a '_Fish ship_' that Kai cracked open his eyes, Yosaku scowling from where he was sitting on the floor, sword propped against his shoulder. The amnesiac refrained from giving him a dodgy look; it was a little creepy to think that someone had been watching him sleep, no matter _how_ much he knew Yosaku's intentions were honourable.

"I guess we're here," the smaller male muttered, swinging himself off the sofa and getting up, "After you," he requested, gesturing for Yosaku to walk in front – if only because Kai didn't like people lurking behind him, it made all the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand straight.

"That's a Marine Ship!" Kai froze halfway up the ladder at Usopp's exclamation.

The Marines? Which Division? This was only East Blue, none of the Marines in the area would be any problem for him, not so sure about the Strawhats but they seemed strong enough to deal with it. Their only problem would be if they ran into a smart Marine, someone armed with Kairoseki or the power of a Logia fruit. There were never any operatives more powerful than a Captain or on rare occasions a Commodore, but the World Government had been getting more and more antsy about the so-called _'Most Docile_' of the Blue Seas, it was, after all, the birth Blue of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King and the majority of his Crew. Not to mention that the Yonkou Red Haired Shanks, Pirate Admiral Don Krieg and the former Vice Captain of the Sunny Pirates and equal to Shichibukai Jinbei, Arlong were all known to the area.

And then there was his presence as well... Kai's eyes narrowed darkly, and wouldn't Vegapunk just love to get his hands on him? Bastard.

Yosaku must have realised something wasn't quite right and gestured for him to stay down as he crawled up onto the deck, to find out what was going on. Kai climbed down, it couldn't be anyone of higher rank than Commodore, he could handle them, they weren't _easy_, but he could handle them. It was annoying though, not knowing what was going on, there were loud voices, arguing, the sound of flesh hitting flesh and Luffy's voice – he didn't sound angry or upset so he doubted if anyone was injured.

Suddenly it all went quiet.

Kai frowned, his pulse jolting as a cold rush of adrenalin tingled through his limbs, he could handle Marines, he could deal with them, he could handle them. But lately, his contacts had all spoken of hearing things, troubling things about the Grand Line, about the Marines, about the World Government and about the Shichibukai and himself.

He could hear movement above him but other than that, silence, silence and just the grain of wood creaking softly above him, he couldn't see what was going on and it was making him twitchy. If he went out there and one of the Marines recognised him... Luffy and Usopp were precious to Shanks and Yasopp, he couldn't put them in that kind of danger. Not the kind that followed him around. They hadn't even _begun_ to see the world yet – facing those kinds of monsters? No. They weren't ready for that.

"_DANGERRRR!_" he near enough jumped out of his skin at Usopp's panicked shriek, "_THOSE MARINES ARE POINTING THEIR CANNONS AT US!_" the seventeen-year-old wailed.

"Wha!"

"What did you say!"

"Fuck," Kai cursed. Screw the Marines! Screw the World Government! He would protect Luffy and Usopp if things went tits up to the point where it was needed! The dark haired male practically flew up the ladder and shoved the hatch open, just as a loud crash split the air.

"_THEY FIRED!_" Usopp screeched just as Kai vaulted out onto the deck and Luffy stretched out.

"**Gomu Gomu no PACHINKO!**" he crowed, '_oof_'ing only slightly as the Cannon-ball impacted his stomach and sent him stretching out across the other side of the ship with the sheer force of the impact. The Strawhats shouting in alarm along with the Marines as Luffy grinned like a monkey – still flying backwards. "You can have this ba-_AH_!" he yelped as one of his hands gave out, a chunk of the Going Merry's Figure Head snapping and throwing off his aim.

Kai paled. He was going to hit the Restaurant!

"_Well bugger_," he muttered as Luffy whiplashed into the front of the Going Merry and the Cannon ball exploded on the roof of the Restaurant.

They were so going to get it in the neck for this. That was Red Leg Zeff's Restaurant.

* * *

"Geez, you two just can't stay out of trouble can you?" Kai grumbled as he gently dabbed some anti-sceptic on Yosaku's grazed forehead.

"Ow!" he yelped before grinning sheepishly, "I guess. But! He insulted our honour! We couldn't let him get with that!" he exclaimed defensively.

Kai shook his head, pressing a plaster over the small abrasion, "People talk. There's always going to be some stupid sack of shit using his arse as a mouthpiece," he gripped the man's chin harshly, "You've got to know your limits Yosaku-san. You don't need to make noise to be the best. It just paints a target on your back. What do you think would happen to Johnny-san if you died? Or what would happen to you if he died? You two are Nakama right?" he asked, making the other male nod, "Then act like it. Take care of each other. Stop each other from getting in over your heads. Alright?"

"Hai, Kai-san," he agreed, shamefaced.

The dark haired youth nodded firmly and released him, "Just keep that compress cold and the swelling should go down enough for you to see soon," he said, wetting a cloth in a bucket of cold water and gently pressing it against Yosaku's swollen right eye.

"Arigato, you really are an angel you know."

Kai sighed and patted his shoulder, "No, no I'm really not," he admitted before getting to his feet and brushing past him, he couldn't see anyone else on deck so he wondered over to where Johnny was flipping through his Wanted Posters, a perturbed look on his face. "What's wrong? You look like someone's just announced they're getting a sex change."

Johnny jolted in surprise as the other male hopped up and sat on the railings beside him, then the words registered and he shook his head with a slight smile, "It's nothing. Do you... Does Nami-aneki have a history with Arlong the Fishman?" he queried.

Kai frowned, "Not that I know of, no," he admitted, tugging absently on a strand of hair.

Arlong was a racist, it was doubtful that he and Nami had a history that didn't involve a lot of abuse and bloodshed and she seemed perfectly fine, _happy_ even.

Johnny hummed thoughtfully as he flipped through the Posters, distantly the two of them could hear the other Straw Hats chatting about the Restaurant and what was taking Luffy so long.

"It's odd, y'know," Johnny admitted, grabbing at Kai's attention, "All the Bounties the Marines put out are done to a level of Threat to 'em. Most East Blue Pirates rarely get anything higher than 8,000,000 Belli, only the big shots get higher than 10K. But then you get monsters like Nico Robin, the Demon of Ohara, how'd an eight year old girl get a Bounty of 79,000,000 Belli and destroy a Buster Call?" he pondered, Kai merely arched an eyebrow at him, saying nothing. Nico-san's personal story wasn't entirely known to him, but he knew that the World Government lied like Usopp when it came to the truth of Ohara. Niisama had told him what he knew of the truth, and it was a fair amount, absently Kai wondered if Aokiji really had the balls to murder his bestfriend like that, chances were, Saul might have just been relegated to Impel Down level 5.

"No one in East Blue ever gets higher than 20,000,000 Belli. 'Cept this kid, and she's fresh from the Grand Line," Johnny stared at the rather old Poster, dog-eared and slightly faded with time, in front of him, a curious look on his face. "Wonder what was so important about this kid that they gave her such a high Bounty."

Kai tilted his head and peered at the picture, he snorted, "That's a terrible photo," he commented, making Johnny chuckle. The obscured face of a child peered up at him from the paper, she couldn't have been any older than maybe fourteen maybe fifteen, her hair was an unruly thatch of black hanging at her shoulders, the most distinguishing mark on her being a thin jagged scar on her forehead, other than that, the image was very blurry and hard to make out, one could only just about make out the background as a demolished village – but only if you knew it was there.

Kai sighed and tugged the Poster out of Johnny's grasp.

"'_Green Eyes_' huh? '_Wanted Dead or Alive at__25,000,000 Belli_'. Christ they must be desperate to put a twenty-K plus bounty up, this _is_ East Blue after all," he muttered before gently folding it, the average Bounty for East Blue was 3,000,000 with the upper echelons hitting just over 10,000,000 Belli. Buggy the Clown was roughly 15,000,000 Belli and Krieg was at 17,000,000 Belli, and they were both Monsters that had a body count higher than most small island populations – not to mention the fact that Buggy used to be an Apprentice aboard the Oro Jackson, Gol D. Roger's ship, right alongside Shanks.

"Hey, Johnny, do you mind if I keep this?" he asked, holding the folded over bounty power between his fingers, bad photo or not, Kai was a little proud of his first Bounty – even if it wasn't as high as it would have been had the World Government known who he really was.

"Ah, no sure. I was going to throw that one away actually," he admitted, scratching at his head, "It's pretty useless anyway. Apart from the first sighting at Loguetown, no one's seen Green Eyes since. At least, no one will admit to it."

Kai chuckled, "A Bounty this high in East Blue and a baby-face like that," and really, it killed him to say it, "I'm not surprised he would be lying low."

Johnny nodded thoughtfully, "That's a good point. How's Yosaku anyway? He took a nasty smack to the face from that Lieutenant earlier."

Kai waved a hand, "He should be fine. If he keeps that wet cloth on his eye the swelling should go down enough for him to see out of it in an hour or so, maybe less if he _stops poking at it!_" Kai added, raising his voice so that the man could hear him.

"That's good," Johnny admitted grinning slightly before shoving the posters into his pocket, "Oi, Aibou, c'mon. Give me a hand," he called, marching over to the storage room, he still hadn't repaired the damage he'd done to the Going Merry's railings, now was as good a time as any. He got the feeling that it was now or never, they could repair the Ram Figure head as well – he could have sworn he saw a bit of wood-filler and glue in the back.

"Hey, we're going to the Restaurant, you want to come with?" Nami called from over the side of the ship, Usopp and Zoro beside her in a small rowboat – where had that come from?

Kai glanced over his shoulder to where he could hear Yosaku and Johnny arguing in the storage room, he shook his head and vaulted over the side of the railing, landing lightly in the boat. "Yes please," he admitted sitting at the nose of the ship with Nami to avoid getting in Usopp and Zoro's way as they rowed.

* * *

It was a nice restaurant.

Would have been nicer without the splinters and blood on the floor though.

Kai looked around as he trailed after the other Straw Hats, he couldn't help but arch an eyebrow at the lack of Waiters, shouldn't this place have been heaving with them? It was supposedly a very high-end restaurant. His eyes caught a glimpse of what had to have been the Marine that tangled with Yosaku and Johnny earlier, Lieutenant Iron Fist Full Body huh? A weakling and prime example of why Kai had very little respect for most Marines.

"Welcome, mere-bastards!" a cheerful baritone voice practically _sang_ not far from them, a large burly man in an apron was actually _sparking_ at them.

Kai blinked.

"Table for four?" he asked brightly.

"Ah, no. We're actually looking for our Captain," Nami explained, "You see, we had a slight mishap earlier and – "

* * *

" – It was so big I accidentally thought it was an island but it was actually a giant fish _turd!_" Usopp exclaimed, waving his arms around, thoroughly pleased by his audience's amusement.

Kai couldn't stop laughing, Usopp had no idea that his so called '_Lie_' was actually true and that the Fish-shit Island, Nanimonai, actually existed in the Grand Line! Even had its own Magnetic field like every other one.

"It's not that funny," Nami pointed out, thoroughly confused and not a little revolted.

Kai shook his head, breathing hard and he occasionally chuckled, "S-sorry Nami-san, it's something of an inside joke from where I was before hitting East Blue," he admitted, eyes glinting mischievously as he broke down laughing again.

"And where might that be?" Zoro asked, it had been bugging him something awful lately.

Kai smirked at him, wiping moisture from the corner of his eye, "It's – a – _se – cret_," he chirped happily, making the swordsman scowl and dig into his food. Really, Kai could tell them, he trusted them enough at this point to share but it was just so much fun to rattle the Swordsman's cage by keeping it a secret he just couldn't help but hold it over his head and dangle it tauntingly in front of him.

Usopp chuckled, "Na, why's it a secret?"

"Because I enjoy annoying Zoro," he told them brightly, making the swordsman throw a table knife at him amidst gales of laughter from those assembled.

"Hey Waiter!" Nami called grinning as she spotted a certain Straw Hatted Pirate making his way down the stairs while Kai poked the swordsman with a fork, grinning wickedly.

"Hey!" he yelped, grabbing at the railings and leaning out to stare at them, "It's you guys!"

Usopp grinned, "I heard you gotta work here for a year!"

"Can I redraw the Pirate flag?" Zoro chimed in with a broad grin, batting Kai away without looking.

Luffy charged down and froze in front of their table, his eyes wide and practically heartbroken, "O-o-o-oi, you guys all stuff yourselves with such great food while I'm not around?" he whimpered, his voice sounding like it was on the verge of tears at their apparent betrayal. Well, for a man who loved food as much as Luffy it pretty much was a betrayal in his eyes to be honest. "THAT HURTS!" he shouted furiously, stomping his foot for added emphasis.

"Not really, it's our free will," Zoro quipped on the verge of laughing at his Captain's reaction.

Kai bit his lip as Luffy scowled and flicked a booger into the swordsman's drink while he wasn't looking, Usopp and Nami not so subtly clamping hands over their mouths to stop themselves from bursting out laughing.

"But I've got to admit, the food here is great," Zoro stated with a grin, picking up the drink and bringing it to his mouth, "I kinda feel sorry for you," he told Luffy as Nami squeaked a little.

"YOU DRINK IT!" the swordsman roared, glass shoved down Luffy's throat as he _held_ it there and forced the seventeen year old to swallow the booger-contaminated water as the rest of the crew busted a gut laughing.

"Why did you do that!" Luffy wailed, flailing around on the floor clutching at his throat while Zoro stood over him and the three others slapped the table and laughed so hard they began to feel a little sick.

"You too," the green haired nineteen year old growled, "What the hell were you trying to pull?"

"My stomach's aching!" Usopp moaned between guffaws.

Their hilarity abruptly stopped as a rose was practically shoved under Nami's nose by a rather... interesting blond man with a curly eyebrow.

Kai blinked in utter bemusement at the lines this guy was spouting, did he really just say......?

He snerked and quickly pressed a hand over his mouth to hide his own laughter at the look on Nami's face. He needn't have worried as the Head Chef showed up and thoroughly distracted the young man – but some of the things he said... Kai frowned, that was just harsh. And incredibly rude and embarrassing to say in front of the customers, what a bully.

Red Leg Zeff wasn't known as a cruel man, he'd _never_ been known as a cruel man.

Something else was going on here.

He dropped backwards on his chair, clattering to the ground and rolling back to his feet, plate of food safely held out of reach as the blond promptly crashed into their table, he could see that the other members of the crew had already done the same with their own food so it looked like he wouldn't be doing any laundry again tonight.

He frowned as the two Chefs exchanged more words, and then Luffy stuck his nose in. What an idiot.

Sighing, the dark haired male set his rescued plate onto the table and pulled his chair back to where it was, blinking as he found a glass of wine and a fruit salad in front of him.

"Eh?"

"Please, pardon me for what has happened," the blond Chef demurred, placing a second fruit salad in front of Nami, his voice suddenly slick and polite as he poured a glass of Rose wine for the ginger haired thief, "as an apology, I have ordered you a Fruit Macedonia, my princesses."

Kai twitched and then calmly pushed the fruit away as Zoro looked torn about bursting out laughing and ripping the Chef a new one.

Usopp didn't have that problem, "What's this! You're not apologising to us?" he demanded, incensed. Zoro then decided to settle on amused as Nami quite expertly used her '_feminine wiles_' on the idiot Love Cook to get a free meal, for herself of course.

"Saw that coming," the green haired male admitted from behind his cup of tea as the blond promptly informed him and Usopp that he still expected them to pay. Luffy, the bastard, just laughed.

"Na, Hime-san, is the fruit not to your liking?" the cook asked, upon seeing Kai ignoring the offering and quite calmly eating his Main meal.

"I'm quite certain the fruit is delicious, Cook-san. I mean no offence, but I am neither a princess or a woman, so I would feel rather guilty for accepting an apology that is not meant for me," he told the blond primly with closed eyes, the grip on his knife and fork actually causing the metal to bend much to Usopp's distress.

Sanji choked, "Y-you're a man!" he yelped.

"Is that a problem?" Kai bit out, his eyes opening a crack and glaring at him.

"But you look so...." he trailed off, not entirely sure how to put it. Normally he would have just said what he wanted but the very little amount of self preservation he had was telling him, in tones rather insistent, that this man currently looked as though he wouldn't have found it too disgusting to gut him like a fish and then wear his entrails like a fashion accessory. Oh, screw it. Since when had he cared? "Feminine."

Kai smiled sweetly, fork bending alarmingly in his hand, "And you look like you molest small boys. Do you see me making assumptions based on your appearance?"

Sanji twitched violently as the men of the table cracked up.

"Bastard," he hissed, glaring at the dark haired male who got to his feet, dropping the mangled eating utensils to push up a baggy sleeve.

"You wanna go?" he growled. His appearance was a very sore point for him, for some reason everyone, _everyone_ mistook him for a girl the first time they met him – everyone except Okama! It was like some kind of cosmic running gag! Leviathan was messing with him! He'd tried cutting his hair but every time it just grew back the next day exactly the same length it had been before. Luckily, it grew very slowly so it wasn't like he was wrestling with yards of the stuff. The fact that he looked _pretty_ – others had said beautiful but there was no way in hell Kai was ever allowing _that_ word to be associated with him – had long hair and a slender body was enough for most to mistake him as female, and it was bloody **INFURIATING**. He would never be a tall person, he would never be able to achieve any sizeable weight and nor would he be able to build substantial muscle mass, it was impossible according to Benn-jichan. And he had whomever it was who raised him as a child to thank for it, and from what fuzzy flashbacks and memories he retained, he was quite certain that it _wasn't_ his parents. Even more annoying was that his Shitty Niisama often teased him about being the long lost twin of Boa Hancock – the Pirate Empress, Kai had yet to meet her but apparently they looked very similar(1).

Luffy was still laughing.

"Why are you slacking off here for!" Sanji barked, kicking the rubber man around the face. He was already deep in the shit with the Old Man and while he was usually in with a free reign, lately everyone in the kitchen had been making his life a hell and trying to drive him out. He was fairly sure that at some point they would get those idiotic oversized knives and forks out and chase him away, but until they did that the Baratie was his home and he wasn't leaving for anything.

"Go give the guests Towels as they come in," he ordered, dragging the slave boy away by the neck.

"Yes sir," Luffy agreed, dazed as he was dragged off, feet trailing on the floor.

Kai huffed and sat down, "Damnit. And I wanted to fight too," he complained.

* * *

They'd been anchored at the Baratie for about four days while Luffy worked off his debt – rather badly at that, he kept breaking things, stealing food and generally being a huge nuisance.

To be honest, they were all getting a little stir-crazy, save for Nami who was having the time of her life playing Sanji like violin for free food and compliments. Yosaku and Johnny had fixed all the damage they'd done to the Going Merry and then spent the rest of their time polishing their swords and playing poker with the rest of the crew. Zoro had done a little training and Usopp had made more pellets. With nothing to do, Kai had ended up cleaning the ship from crows nest to hull, that done, he'd just lounged around, which was alright for about two days, then he started getting bored. And then tetchy. He wasn't used to just sitting and waiting, he was very bad at it.

Which was probably why he was in the bath, hoping that the soak would sooth his irrational cabin fever – last time they'd been in the Restaurant he and Sanji had nearly come to blows again when usually they tended to ignore one another.

Really, Luffy had to work for a long time. Why couldn't they help out and get the time halved, have something to do and learn how to cook for themselves – that way they wouldn't need someone to do it for them, or if that someone went sick they wouldn't starve. Common sense was in sad minority on Pirate Ships he'd noted.

Leaning back against the lip of the tub he rubbed at the blotchy scars on his arms, they would fade soon enough, that ointment Zoro had used on them really worked wonders. He'd always been a quick healer but for them to have scarred already at six days? That was incredible. He would HAVE to learn how to make that stuff before he left the group. Even the bruises on his stomach had faded.

He had to wonder how many scrapes the green haired swordsman had gotten into to have learned how to make the ointment.

Distantly, he could hear shouting but decided to ignore it, probably Yosaku and Johnny fighting over who won the last poker game. It went quiet after a while so he just pushed it out of his mind and wiggled his feet happily in the hot water.

The explosion nearly made him bite his tongue in surprise.

"The hell!" the green-eyed male yelped, whirling around in the water. "Shit," he cursed climbing out and grabbing a towel. Wiping himself down he dressed and ran out, twisting his hair up and out of the way with the Holly stick, not bothering to stamp into his boots as he did so.

"Nami! Nami-san! What's going on!" he shouted as he ran out onto the deck.

And stopped.

* * *

**And end chapter two. XDD Is it good so far? Is it? Is it? (is having entirely too much fun with Yosaku's man crush) I noticed that in animes and mangas that when a character saves another characters life there's usually something of a Nightingale syndrome – where the rescuee falls in love/worships/swears to protect their rescuer. That's what's happening here. Don't worry. Nothing will happen. Yosaku's sudden devotion is actually a little disturbing to Kai.**

**Review pleasums**

Araceil

* * *

_Aibou means Partner and Tenshi means angel. And an Okama is a crossdresser, a professional one._

**1)** Would you believe me if I told you I'd already come up with Kai's design by the time I reached the Amazon Lily Arc? When I saw Hancock I promptly burst out laughing, seriously, they look so much alike with the way I designed Kai. Hancock has longer hair, she's taller, her nose is straighter (Kai's is a little buttonish in comparison), her eyes are a different colour, her body is broader, and she's a woman. She is essentially the Sexy No Jutsu version of Kai – plus ten years and change the eye colour.

**Drawings of Kai and the other Strawhats can be found on my Facebook – link is on my profile.**

* * *

**Reviewer response – **

**Slate Grey:** Wow, I'm actually blushing. I'm glad you like it so far. X3

**Nightmaric:** Heh, Benn is damn awesome. It's a shame the Red Hairs don't get more love but I have a feeling that they'll get more attention lavished on them when the Strawhats reach the New World and get tangled up in more Yonkou business.

**Kit52491:** Yup, I've gone through all of the OPHP section and not one of them is a Zoro/Harry, which is why I wrote it – and Zoro's my fav character so it just made things that little bit better in my mind. (But only by a tiny tiny tiny bit. He's currently tying with so many of the characters in One Piece I officially can't decide. But in Ignition he gets that tiny little bit more love because..... well you'll see.)

**FriggyEsquire:** Anything to do with the wizards – weeeeeeeeeeell, it's a _sec-ret_ ;D

* * *

**POWER AND OTHER NOTES**

Some people have expressed concerns about Kai's power in relation to the other Strawhats, along with a few other little things. Ignition is already on its second rewrite, first rewrite had Harry a little too.... Super!Harry as Stalker of Stories will confirm (My lovely Beta, go and give her love.)

Getting the balance between Harry and the Strawhats is difficult; everyone in One Piece is so damn overpowered it's difficult to find that happy medium in the crew. As it stands, at the moment, Kai is more powerful than ALL the Strawhats, even Luffy. But that's simply because he not only has more experience but has had some pretty intense hands-on training in opposition to Luffy who just got abused by his Grandpa in the name of training. Later on, he will find his niche in front of Sanji but behind Zoro in terms of physical power, in terms of speed, he will be the fastest in the crew.

To lay a few fears to rest, here's some extra info:

Kai's Bounty is never going to be higher than Luffy's – at this point in time is the only exception because Luffy doesn't HAVE a Bounty yet. Kai's never going to take down the main bad guy unless it's in an Original Story Arc that I've created simply to squeeze some more time into the journey (Canonly, the Strawhats have been together under 6 months, perhaps just over if you include the time spent travelling between islands that hasn't been recorded).

And as for Magic... he has amnesia, meaning that he won't remember a lot of spells add to that...... He has a handicap on his magic that will be explored later in the story – it's a plot point so I won't be saying anymore on it. Don't ask.

No, he won't have the Haoushoku Haki (King's Disposition) that Luffy, Ace, Shanks, Hancock and White Beard have (Despite it supposedly being a Haki that only 1 in a 1,000,000,000,000 people are supposed to have.) and he won't have Mantra either. He'll have something _else_. Ooh, spoiler alert. Shush yer face, I won't say anymore.

* * *

**16/05/2010: Just a quick edit since Ffnet decided it didn't like my page breaks. XP**


	3. Chapter 3

**IGNITION**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

* * *

"What..... the hell is he doing here?"

"You know whose ship that is?" Zoro asked, looking over his shoulder at the motionless twenty-year-old.

He nodded, a very dark expression dawning on his face, "Yeah, it's Don Krieg's flagship. The one that attacked me," Kai admitted, staring at the large ruined monstrosity before spitting off the side of the ship, "If the ship is here, then so is Krieg himself," the amnesiac announced seriously before a malicious smile appeared on his face, "He must be looting the place for food, or trying to steal the ship," he theorised.

"Luffy's still on board," Usopp squeaked his eyes widening.

Zoro sighed, "Idiot, he'll probably pick a fight."

"He's not the only one who'll be picking a fight," Kai purred cracking his knuckles with a predatory look on his face. Krieg was going to regret ever hearing of his name when Kai got his hands on him, pathetic, loathsome, vile little invertebrate trying to leech off the reputation and skills of his betters. Kai was going to rip him a _new one_.

Getting attacked in the middle of the night, that gas, the children being taken hostage, Krieg and the 150 men that survived their harrowing trip to the Grand Line, their offer and their looting. And then.... Then him opening fire with that fucking armour when Kai flatly turned him down! If he'd known how strong that stuff was he would have hit it _harder_ and shattered that cheapass East Blue crap! Those bullets fucking hurt as well, he hadn't even had a chance to put up a defence! And then the rest of his crew joined in, all attacking him at the same time and then that fucking exploding spear – what a fucking annoyance to wake up to. And for what? Why did it always go back to that? His fucking freakish power.

Zoro smacked him around the head, "Cool it," he told the smaller male, "Let's go and see what's going on first," he suggested, grabbing Usopp by the back of his overalls before he could sneak off.

* * *

The scene that greeted them as they slipped in the back entrance through the kitchens was quite interesting. Luffy and Don Krieg in a stand off, Rubber Boy against Armoured Bastard, fist verses shoulder pistols.

"Starting a brawl, Luffy?" Zoro asked, sliding a blade out of its sheath by an inch or so, bloodthirsty grin crossing his features as Usopp stood beside him, nose in the air so he wouldn't have to look at the object of his fear – knees shaking rather violently. "Need a hand?" he asked as Kai made his way down the stairs tugging on his fighting gloves, a dark expression on his face as he grinned at Krieg across the room, there was nothing pleasant in his expression, all teeth and murderous intent.

"W-We don't have to, y-y'know," Usopp announced loudly in a slightly quivering voice.

Kai didn't say anything, just narrowed his eyes and shifted his weight.

"Zoro, Usopp, Kai, you guys dropped by!" Luffy greeted in surprise, turning all of his attention away from the enemy in a rather idiotic move in Kai's opinion – who did that? Who turned away from an enemy when they had a gun pointed at you? That was just stupid, beyond stupid actually – but apparently that was Monkey D. Luffy to a Tee. "Its okay, just sit and watch," he assured them with a grin.

"Oh, okay... that's too bad then," Usopp quivered but his voice filled with relief, "if you don't need us there's nothing we can do about that," he declared, still shaking. "I-I'll help ya if you still need it!" he told his Captain, "G-good luck!" he finished, only to get elbowed in the side and knocked to the floor. "What the hell was that for Zoro!" he yelled bolting upright.

"Shut up and stay still," the swordsman ordered with a roll of his eyes.

Krieg sneered and turned away, "I'll take care of you guys later," he promised, the shoulders of his armour snapping down with a clack as he grabbed the large burlap sack on the floor, "Right now, I need to feed my men," Kai's eyes narrowed at this proclamation, leather gloves creaking slightly as his hands fisted even tighter, "For those who don't wish to die, you'd better not be here when I return. The only things I want are the journal, this ship and Leviathan," he began to walk away, oblivious to the flickering lights and the rattling furniture, "However, if you really want to throw away your lives... I'll have to go out of my way but I will be happy to send you to the bottom of the ocean! Keep that in mind," he grunted, "Leviathan... you'd better be here when I get back."

Green eyes narrowed. Oh, he would be here alright.

Kai sighed and sat down as the Cooks quarrelled amidst themselves and took up their weapons again, determined to defend the only home they had with their lives, even as Gin tried to talk them out of it.

"_Leviathan_?" Zoro echoed suddenly, before looking up at Kai, "Was he talking about you?"

"Yes. It's an old nickname from my old Pirating days," Kai admitted bitterly, he'd never been especially _fond _of it but ever since Krieg started calling him that it had lost what little charm it had to him.

"You don't seem too happy about it," Usopp pointed out.

"I'm not. I hate it," his tone quite firmly shutting the door on asking him why but Zoro vowed to find out later, when he wasn't so irritated about being within 50 leagues of Krieg.

Luffy hummed and called out to Gin before Zoro could ask just why Krieg was so determined to get Kai onto his crew, "Hey Gin! You said once you didn't know anything about the Grand Line, right? But you _have_ been there, haven't you?" he asked, tilting his head to the side and folding his arms quizzically.

Gin swallowed as everyone's attention turned to him, "The truth is, I _don't_ know anything. What happened at the Grand Line on the seventh day......" he shuddered, a cold sweat breaking out on his face as his mind relived that horrifying day in vivid clarity. "Was it a dream?" he asked hoarsely, "Or reality?" he asked, looking, if possible, even more scared of it being true than false.

"It's still fresh in my mind. It was unbelievable. Just one man... destroyed a whole fleet of 50 ships!" he gasped, a hand pressed against his head as shock made his skull throb painfully.

Kai refrained from laughing, he knew it, he was right. He'd seen the damage to the ship and figured they'd run into one of the Pirate Super Powers on the Grand Line, but this? This sounded an awful lot like his Shitty Niisama. They probably woke him up or something; he was such a cranky bitch if you woke him up early – as Kai knew from experience.

"WHAT!"

Gin nodded at the exclamation of the Fighting Cooks, "It happened so fast," he admitted quietly, "He showed up out of nowhere and started sinking our ships one after the other," oh yeah, it was definitely Niisama. Always had to be dramatic, always had to let the poor bastards sweat it out instead of just destroying the whole lot of them in one fell swoop like a nice guy. It used to make him laugh whenever they saw Pirates with wet patches around the crotch. "If a storm hadn't come along, our maiden ship would have been destroyed as well."

Wait, what?

Ooooh _shit_.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Kai refrained from smacking his head against the railings, he hadn't finished the job! He hadn't gotten bored or tired or fed up and decided to go on his separate way, he'd been thwarted by a storm!

That meant he was here, in East Blue, on his way here, to this location.

"Oh fuck," Kai muttered softly, sitting down heavily on the stairs, feeling light headed. His Shitty Niisama was heading here, towards the Baratie. Usopp and Zoro looked at him in curiosity, wondering just why he had gone so pale – he hadn't seemed too horrified during the story until the part with the storm cropped up. His brother in East Blue, this was _definitely_ going to get the attention of the Higher ups, and if his presence was discovered... a magnifying glass was going to be placed over his Shitty Niisama, that was just going to make things incredibly difficult. Plus, as much as he liked his Shitty Niisama, he was still a bastard and much more lovable from a distance of several oceans – absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.

"I have no idea how many of my mate's ships survived," Gin admitted.

"None of them," Kai stated flatly, "That person.... if it is who I think it is.... wouldn't have left any of them floating."

Gin trembled, his eyes squeezing shut, "I can't accept it. It's too horrifying," he whimpered, "I don't even want to think about what happened! That man.... His stare pierces straight through you, like the eyes of a Hawk!"

"Wha? What did you say?" Zoro gasped, pushing away from the wall in alarm. Kai's eyes flickered over to him, oh please tell him this wasn't another one of those fanboy types who thought that if they challenged his brother and made enough of an impression they would be taken on as an Apprentice? He was actually rather fond of the green haired man, he would hate to see him sliced to ribbons because he thought he was big enough to go head to head against a swordsman of Niisama's level.

"That guy...." Zeff spoke, his tone thoughtful and deliberately grim, "he must be the man known as Hawk Eyes. The fact that you noticed his eyes, leads me to believe that it _was_ him. It sounds like the sort of thing he would do."

"The Hawk-eyes man!" Zoro repeated, shaking, hardly daring to believe his ears.

"Eh? You know the guy Zoro?" Luffy asked, craning his head backwards.

"No. He doesn't," Kai broke in, before the green haired male could reply, "Or he would be dead."

Zoro twitched and glared at him, "What did you say?"

"You heard me," Kai stated, folding his arms and eyeing Zoro coldly, making Gin twitch and start to shake at the look in his eyes, Zeff arched an eyebrow and refrained from chuckling as he recognised it for what it was, "I actually like you guys so here's some advice, pay attention. Compared to him, you are an insect. Face him and you'll be mince meat within minutes, and since he didn't _finish_ what he started in the Grand Line, chances are he's not too far away," Gin went _white_, "and he'll be bitchy as all hell so I doubt I'll be able to talk him down from killing you."

Zeff tapped his peg on the floor, "You can't talk down that kind of man."

Kai rolled a shoulder, "It depends on how pissed off he is compared to how bored he is."

Luffy blinked, "So _you_ know this guy Kai?"

He nodded, "Yeah, quite well actually. Fucking pervert," he growled. Sanji found his eyebrow shooting into his hairline, just how _well_ did this guy know him?

"That's the man I've been looking for," Zoro growled out, glaring at the long haired male, "I've sailed across oceans looking for him. I'm not giving up just because you say so."

Sanji turned his attention to Gin before he got too caught up in the argument between the swordsman and the Wana, "Maybe he had a grudge to settle with you guys?"

"Not that I know of." He admitted.

"Maybe you disturbed his nap," Zeff suggested, completely serious.

"More than likely," Kai pointed out, leaning on the railings with his elbows and ignoring the glare Zoro was drilling into the side of his head, "Bastard always was cranky when he woke up."

"CUT THE BULLSHIT!" Gin bellowed slapping his hands down on the flor. "Why in the world would he destroy the entire fleet for that!"

"Because he could," the green eyed male stated, just as Zeff chuckled and told him to calm down.

"I'm just making assumptions." the old chef placated, "Stuff like that happens on the Grand Line."

Kai rolled his eyes turning away and climbing up the stairs, idiots, they obviously weren't going to listen to what he had to say. He may as well go and keep a look out for the Shitty Bastard.

Outside, he swung his legs over the railing and sat himself down, half an eye on Krieg's ship and half an eye on the misty ocean, he knew the Shitty Bastard would be lurking inside the fog – he always was one for the bloody dramatics.

Not for the first time he wondered about his luck as he watched the world around him.

When he'd been found washed up on that jungle beach in the Grand Line, it was as if everything had suddenly taken a sharp climb in his life. He could tell that things before then hadn't been all that happy, even without his fuzzy recollections of pain and depression and terror that had him thrashing and waking up in a cold sweat and throbbing headache at night.

Shanks and his crew had taken him in, taught him the basics, they'd wasted three weeks at that small island with him before moving on, keeping him on as a cabin boy for a time so he could keep learning. But eventually he had to leave, the Grand Line was a dangerous place and despite the sheer power Shanks wielded and how insanely protective of his crew he was, it was still no place for an amnesiac teenager with no combat experience or weaponry. They'd gone their separate ways at Water 7 – there was no way Shanks was going to take him anywhere near Sabaody Archipelago, there had been a huge farewell party, Shanks cried all over him and then nicknamed him Porcupine, declaring that he would always be their Nakama and he'd make sure that he was taken care of even if he wasn't there to do it himself.

The crew got so shit faced that night they ended up having to stay for the whole day afterwards just to recover from the hangovers, of course the night afterwards they decided to have _another_ farewell party – only this time without so much booze, or Shanks crying over him. Then... They'd left and Kai had ended up being taken in by Galley La at Shanks request, Iceburg had made sure he was well taken care of. Kai ended up befriending a few Shipwright apprentices from Dock One who taught him a little bit – he was no Shipwright, not even close, he just did odd jobs, running messages, keeping track of tools, occasionally helping out in some of the simpler tasks with Kaku and the rest of the time he spent assisting Kalifa in the office and keeping Iceburg out of trouble. However, he ended up doing something extremely stupid a few months after Shanks and his crew had left, he'd gone out of bounds and caught up in the Aqua Laguna on the Lower Districts. Swept out to sea never to see Water 7 again – he wondered how Kaku and the others were.

A few days of drifting, he got hauled out of the water by a fisherman who took him to one of the near-by islands. Scared, but determined, he decided that it was probably for the best, better to leave and try and find out who he was before he got too comfortable and didn't _want_ to leave. So he boarded a ship headed for Arabasta so he could go in search of his lost past, intending to go as far as Reverse Mountain and then hike into one of the Blue seas. Unfortunately, his ship was attacked by Pirates just out of sight from the island.

That was when Kai met his Shitty Niisama.

The Captain of the ship had taken a liking to the way several of the youngsters looked – him amongst them – and ordered them taken onto the ship, his crew could take whomever they liked as long as they weren't on the ship the next morning. I.e. fuck them, slit their throats and dump the carcasses overboard.

They'd only just started off again when he came out of nowhere and shredded the ship like wet tissue paper, Kai remembered the panic, the screaming, the manacles around his ankles suddenly slipping free as the water in the room began to flood. How he'd yanked and pulled and wrestled with the other children's restraints, how the wooden wall behind them suddenly exploded and flooded, throwing him out and into the water. He remembered surfacing and crawling onto a piece of wreckage, coughing and spluttering before turning and jumping back into the water to go and rescue the other children.

He had been sitting on the wreckage, hugging the only other one of the children he had been able to save, the others having drowned when the water came rushing in. He had stepped onto their meagre floating island, Kai remembered thinking, somewhat hysterically, that his boots were ridiculously clean for a pirate. The amber eyed man had studied them with such cold apathy that his blood had turned to ice in his veins thinking that he was going to kill them, Kai remembered shoving the little boy behind him and brandishing the stick he'd had for as long as he could remember. He didn't remember what happened next, just a vague half memory that they had left the boy in Jaya – under the care of a kindly old Widow – before moving on.

It was only later that Kai would learn that Shanks had called his old friend after Iceburg had told him about the Aqua Laguna and requested his former rival – now reluctant friend – to keep an eye on his favourite Porcupine.

So, Namikaze Kai officially became the problem of Jiraquille Mihawk from that point on.

He'd stuck with Mihawk for over a year. The older man had perhaps seen something in him, potential or just the determination to never be weak or perhaps he was just bored – more than likely he just wanted an excuse to beat on him, and had tried to teach him how to handle swords – he gave up soon enough, Kai sucked with swords just as much as he did with ships, he could use them, but no matter how much he practised and trained, he would never be able to use them as affectively as Shanks or Mihawk, any other weapon he could handle and master, anything but swords. Mihawk.... had not been happy.

But it didn't stop the Shichibukai from making sure he could at least hold his own, and not embarrass his name by being so obviously weak. Every morning would begin the same way, Kai would wake up to see the Shitty Bastard stood over him, lit by pre-dawn light holding that fucking over-grown Pig Sticker about to attack him. Eventually the Shichibukai stopped doing that – though it could have had something to do with Kai's rather embarrassing instinctive reaction that one time. He'd grabbed the nearest object, one of the green candles, and stabbed the Pirate in the nipple with it.

As far as Kai recalled, he had never heard Mihawk make such an unmanly squawking sound in his life.

They'd wondered through the Grand Line for about a year and a half together, roughly as Mihawk often just ditched Kai at various islands while he went off on official and unofficial business, leaving the dark haired male to find work, get into fights or make friends – embarrassingly enough Kai even ended up becoming an honorary member of several sects on the Grand Line and even becoming the Head of one. By the time they were nearing the year and a half mark, Kai had managed to obtain his own pretty badass rep in the Grand Line – and entirely without a Bounty on his head as the World Government could never get a good picture of him and whatever sketches they had ended up looking like Hancock or were just plain pornographic – if Kai ever got his hands on the son of a bitches who did the Marine's sketch art he was going to kill them, slowly and painfully.

And then they'd reached East Blue where Mihawk left, stating that his role was finished and pointing Kai in the direction of Loguetown. That had been two years ago. Kai hadn't seen him since save for a few messages that occasionally got through on his Baby Den Den Mushi.

"Should be an interesting reunion," the dark haired male mused. He had, at some point, decided that since he didn't have a family, he would just adopt the people around him, the ones he considered precious in any case. Shanks and Mihawk became like older brothers – both being far too immature in their own ways to take the role of father, Yasopp, Benn and Lucky Roo became uncles, while the rest of the crew became Cousins and the various people he'd met on the Grand Line distant Aunts, Uncles and second cousins twice removed while the women within Mihawk's acquaintance took the roles of older sisters, because they enjoyed teasing him just as much as Mihawk did – Kai had a very large, very drunk and very dysfunctional family, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

He glanced over as he heard the Krieg pirates suddenly start cheering and shouting threats at the Baratie, they must have really enjoyed that meal if they were on their feet already.

He twitched, a sound catching the edges of his hearing. A ringing.

Kai climbed to his feet, frowning slightly, balancing precariously on the railings as he strained his ears, the wind sweeping past him, ruffling his hair and clothes.

"He's here."

Krieg's ship exploded.

* * *

"No one can win against Aniki!" Yosaku cheered, grinning broadly at the spectacle of his Aniki going head to head against Mihawk.

"Aniki's the best!" Johnny affirmed, smacking a fist into his palm.

"And he's going to get cut in half."

"What!" the two exclaimed, bristling and whirling around, fully prepared to smack the disrespectful bastard who dared think their Aniki was going to lose. They weren't expecting Kai to be stood there; arms folded looking hard-faced and grim. "K-Kai-san?" Yosaku stuttered.

"I told that idiot not to fight. Niisama's going to rip him apart."

"NIISAMA!" the two Pirate Hunters bellowed in horror, "H-h-hawk eyes Mihawk is your Niisama!" Johnny squealed in surprise.

"Yes. I haven't seen him in years though," Kai admitted, watching as his so called older brother pulled his smallest blade, the tiny concealed dagger that Kai had got for him before he'd been ditched in East Blue. He shook his head, "Bastard. He's playing with him."

Once upon a time ago, he would have found the fight hilarious, he would have laughed at the ease Mihawk displayed in completely dominating and humiliating the other swordsman. He had found it funny. He used to find it funny. But it's an entirely different kettle of fish when it's someone you know getting treated so disrespectfully, and it's even worse when that person selflessly saved your life for no reason other than it was the right thing to do. It made him wonder.... just who the people he'd seen his brother defeat before were, what their dreams were, did they have families, were they good people or were they self serving scum buckets?

He shook his head, he would like nothing more than to run out there, kick Zoro in the head, hug his brother and then drag that idiot Lettuce Head back to the Baratie. But this was a duel between swordsmen. Even if Kai couldn't handle the damn things, he knew that they all had a code between themselves and one should never, _ever_ interfere with a Duel – it was an insult to even try. He didn't even move when Luffy yanked Yosaku and Johnny back and away from the fight, at least one of them knew the full impact of what this meant.

He twitched when the Black Sword came out.

"He's going to die. Mihawk's going to kill him."

"NO!" Luffy snapped, glaring at him, "ZORO'S GUNNA WIN!"

Kai glared at him, "What fantasy world do you people live in! Niisama's going to kill him! He doesn't hold back – ever!" He snarled, slapping a hand on the railing in front of him, eyes prickling slightly. Damnit, he actually LIKED the Straw Hats, he didn't like the idea of Zoro dying any more than Luffy but there was nothing he could do! It was a Swordsmen's Duel! Interfering was akin to breaking the unwritten Laws of the world!

Zoro's swords shattered as they clashed.

The group whipped around collectively to stare; blood was dripping onto the wooden decking of Krieg's ship from the slash across the younger man's chest.

"It's over," Kai murmured his eyes sliding shut. He sighed and tugged angrily at his hair, Leviathan damnit, the first crew of people he actually liked, maybe found some kind of home with, and then his own brother goes and kills one of them. Great. Just fucking lovely. And let's not forget Krieg stood over there watching everything just waiting for the chance to do something dumb-as-fuck.

He took a deep breath and released his hair, glaring at the form of his brother hard, he thought hard, there had to be a way of keeping the idiot swordsman alive...

Maybe... maybe Zoro wouldn't have to die... Maybe Mihawk would let him live with just that. He had already said he was impressed with how stubborn the other man was. Maybe.... Maybe he would let him live. He just needed a reason. Kai vaulted onto the railings, ignoring the Baratie's crew members and Yosaku and Johnny calling after him as he ran to the nearest piece of wreckage. If he could just get there quickly enough he might be able to prevent Zoro from doing something suicidally stupid!

'_Please.... please Niisama, don't kill him!_' he thought furiously, jumping from wreckage to wreckage and shoving his way through Krieg's pirates. Using the advanced techniques he learned in the Grand Line never even crossed his mind, too consumed with just getting to them and stopping his brother that all rational thought of techniques or attacks fled.

"Attacking from behind is a shameful act amongst swordsmen," Zoro said arms outstretched, fatalistic grin stretched ear to ear on his face. Mihawk grinned.

"Well said."

Kai didn't know who screamed, he was aware that Luffy and the other two had shouted but he knew someone closer had screamed the Pirate Hunter's name – later he would realise that it was him but right then, he was too pissed off to realise it as the whole world suddenly went black and it felt like he was being squeezed through a tube.

Then, there was an explosion of light and his ears popped with the loud crack of sound.

Disorientation cleared in the split second it took him to see Zoro hit the water, not even paying his brother a second thought – or the look on his face, despite the fact it _was_ rather amusing – he bolted past and launched himself into the water.

The trail of blood led him down to the swordsman as he sank.

He was vaguely aware of Johnny and Yosaku swimming not far above him as he grabbed at Zoro's arm, pulling the injured man close as he turned and began to swim up towards the surface, the other two beside him with an arm on each shoulder to help him go faster.

They broke the surface, dragging in gulps of air as Kai kicked his legs in the water to keep Zoro's head above sea level, "Aniki! Aniki! Say something!" Yosaku wailed, pushing on his shoulder.

"Idiot! Stop shaking him – you're jarring his injuries!" Kai snarled as Zoro coughed up blood.

"Quickly, let's get him on board!" Usopp called as he directed a tiny little ship closer, reaching out to help them lift the much larger man inside.

Kai hauled himself in and crawled up to the man's side, shoving Johnny out of his way as he shifted the swordsman carefully and ripped his shirt off to get at the injuries. Christ, stab wounds, slashes, he was a mess!

"Here's some medicine! Apply it quickly!" Usopp ordered, shoving a small bucket of supplies towards the long haired male.

"Right. Hold him down, he might start thrashing around when I sew him up," he stated, Yosaku and Johnny moving to hold his arms still.

"It's still too early for you to die," Mihawk called, causing everyone save Kai to stop and stare at him, "My name is Juraquille Mihawk! Find your true self! The true world! Become stronger! No matter how long it may take, I will await you in my strongest form! Surpass this sword! Surpass me! Roronoa Zoro!"

Kai rolled his eyes at the speech, typical dramatics. He was distantly aware of Luffy and Mihawk talking but it was all background noise as he pressed bloody hands to Zoro's chest, trying to stem the flow of blood as dark eyes cracked open, staring at him with blurry vision.

"Aniki! He's alive!" Johnny cheered in relief.

"Luffy, can you hear me?" Zoro rasped, blood dribbling down his chin.

"Stop talking already, idiot," Kai growled moving to yank the arm the other male had just lifted into the air – sword in hand, only to have Johnny grab him and shake his head.

"Don't," he pleaded, tears dribbling down his cheeks.

"Yeah!" Luffy called, oblivious to the by-play.

"Sorry for worrying you. If I didn't become the greatest swordsman in the world, you'd be in a bit of a dilemma now, right?" he asked panting and shivering as his body slowly began to slip into shock. "I will.... I will never... LOSE AGAIN!" he was crying now and Kai really wanted to hit something, preferably Mihawk himself, the smug bastard. "Until I beat him and become the greatest swordsman in the world, I'll never be defeated again! Any problems with that, Pirate King!"

Luffy laughed, "None!" he exclaimed gleefully.

"A good team," Mihawk admitted, smirking, "I hope we meet again. Keep my little brother out of trouble will you? Help him become a man(1)."

"PERVERT!" Kai roared, hurling a bottle of antiseptic at the swordsman who allowed it to shatter harmlessly on his sword, chuckling.

"Hold on there Hawk Eyes." Krieg rumbled, stomping onto the wreckage where the Shichibukai was stood. Kai huffed, face bright pink as he sat back down beside Zoro, the idiot was unconscious again, he couldn't believe Mihawk had just said that! Shitty Pervert Bastard!

Digging out a needle and thread from the medicine box he set about stitching the swordsman up, Mihawk hadn't cut as far in to completely destroy his abdominal muscles thankfully, all that was required was some minor inner stitches and then to sew the whole horrid slash up. After that he could deal with the stab wound and the smaller slash without much trouble, they were already beginning to clot to be honest but this big one scared him. On anyone else it would have been fatal. A testament to his brother's skill that he could calculate such a thing in a split second just through trading a few blows – it was scary to think about that skill at times, Zoro had a long way to go before he was even half way to matching that.

"Didn't you come for my head? East Blue's Greatest, Don Krieg's head?" he demanded, arms folded arrogantly.

"That was my original intention. But I've had more than enough fun. I'm headed back to sleep," the Shichibukai admitted simply.

Krieg grinned, his neck cracking, "It may have been enough for you, but I haven't had my bit yet," he all but purred, "And when I'm done with you, I think I'll have some fun with your brother," Kai stiffened and glared at the grey haired pirate from the small boat, Mihawk's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as his lip twitched into what only a very few people would recognise as either the beginnings of a snarl or derisive laughter. He was glad he hadn't wasted his time now, apparently, this one was both weak and stupid, a suicidal mix. His brother may not have been as powerful as he used to be, but he was still more than a puny East Blue Captain could handle. Krieg's armour snapped open, "DIE BEFORE YOU GO BASTARD!" he roared, crowing with malicious laughter.

The Shichibukai sighed and pulled his blade, "A true fool," he mused absently as the air around him exploded.

Krieg cursed as the smoke cleared, "He got away," he grumbled unhappily before looking towards the small ship where Kai was busy stitching up Zoro. "But there's one left behind," he growled happily. Even if it wasn't Mihawk himself, and even if he valued the boy's unique ability, he was still going to make the brat suffer for his brother's actions! For destroying his ships! Insulting him! He would rip him up and make him scream!

"Usopp!" Luffy called, prompting the curly haired Pirate to look up.

"Luffy?"

"Get going!" he called, grinning enthusiastically, "Take care of Nami and Kai!"

"Gotcha!" he yelled, waving his arms, "Me and Zoro will definitely get Nami back! You just make that Cook one of us! Then we'll make a party of six and head to the Grand Line!" he shouted, throwing a certain straw hat back to it's owner. Kai frowned, wondering just when he'd been added to the group before shrugging it off, he had an idiot to sew up.

"Yeah! Now go!" Luffy ordered, stretching an arm out and catching it in mid-air.

* * *

**Chapter three finished along with the Baratie Arc! XDD next is the Arlong arc. XDD Is everyone liking it so far?**

**Stalker and I originally had loads of funnies to happen in this chapter – mostly between Mihawk and Kai but I just couldn't find a way of adding them in without cheapening the Duel between him and Zoro. Which would be mean. Managed to fit one in though, and it fits with an event in the next chapter so all is good.**

**Review pleasums!**

Araceil

* * *

**(1) As for Mihawk telling Luffy to make his brother a man.....** (snrk) a bit of a joke. Mihawk carries the tone of a closet pervert in my mind, and of course, as all big brothers, he's got to tease and humiliate his younger brother. Hence why he just told Luffy to make sure Kai losses his virginity at some point. Yes he's still a virgin. XDD That story will be explained later.

_Special thanks again to Lovely Beta Stalker of Stories – give her love, c'mon people! Love her! She makes this non-eye gouging!_

**16/05/2010: Just a spot of editing since Ffnet decided it didn't like my page breaks. XP**


	4. Chapter 4

**IGNITION**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_WARNING: Spoilers._

* * *

"Get your hand _off_ my ass," Kai growled his eyebrow twitching sporadically.

"I can't. It's tied there," Zoro bit back attempting to pull his hand away but finding it quite impossible.

"I'm going to fucking kill those two," the smaller of the pair vowed as the water around the boat churned.

"Usopp's mine," the swordsman declared, "I've been wanting to kill him for weeks."

"Alright," Kai agreed easily enough. Usopp had yet to do anything personally to him and neither had Johnny, so it didn't matter to him who got to slaughter whom.

The two Fishmen that jumped onto the ship were about as ass-ugly as the last ones Kai had seen. At least Jinbei had some class to him, unfortunately while he would have loved to do nothing more than kick them back_ off _the ship, his feet had been tied – breaking the ropes would be easy enough but... meh, what a pain and he wasn't fond of rope burns to be honest, plus it would put pressure on Zoro's stitches.

"What? Only two?" the fat one blubbered leering at them. "What's a woman doing tied to a ship?"

Kai could _feel_ Zoro trying not to laugh. Oh that settled it; he was so _killing_ these fish-fuckers when he got untied.

"Maybe they drifted here from somewhere," the skinny one suggested.

Zoro laughed nervously, "You... could say that."

"I see," the skinny one said, "I guess those injuries must have come from the crew of this ship torturing you," he turned to Kai and eyed him up and down, the green eyed male feeling somewhat violated by the action, "You must have protected her as well," he decided and Kai twitched slightly as Zoro tensed, shaking a little. He was laughing, that bastard was _laughing!_

Zoro wasn't laughing, he wasn't, OK he was, but he was trying not to.

"Anyways, let's bring them to Arlong-san before anything else," the fat one suggested.

Kai sighed and leaned back against the wall, ignoring the hand currently against his right ass-cheek, really all Usopp had done was make things worse. When he'd agreed with Zoro about going into Arlong Park and taking Nami back by force, he'd meant with all of them and their weapons ready. Not just the two of them with their hands tied behind their backs, Zoro suffering a fever and injuries – it wasn't like Mihawk kept his sword very clean and Kai just had to get pissed off and throw the antiseptic at the bastard – and completely unarmed. His head hurt too, Johnny could have been a little gentler when slamming that mallet down on his skull. He watched quietly as the ship made its way back to the front gate of Arlong Park, the skinny one and his other friend pushing the boat along – the fat one had glimpsed Usopp and Johnny swimming to shore and gone after them. Kai hoped they'd managed to get away, if only so he could kill them himself.

"Hey, do you know how to fight?" Zoro suddenly asked making him scowl.

"Of course I know how to fight," he hissed irritably.

"What style?" he whispered his voice increasingly urgent. He didn't like the idea of going into a Fishman den and having to protect someone who couldn't cover their own ass at the same time.

Kai scowled at him, insulted, "I'm a Weapons' Master jackass, I can use anything except swords," Kai retorted, "I'm best at hand to hand and whips though."

Zoro blinked, "Whips?" kinky.

Kai rolled his eyes as if reading his mind, "Yes whips."

"Right," Zoro turned his head to see if he could spot the Fishmen before leaning as close to the smaller male as he could, "they'll need to untie us soon. Think you could get an opening and attack?" he asked.

"They seem stupid so chances are yes. But they're not going to try and untie us until we're in the compound and Arlong is on par with a Shichibukai last I heard, you're too injured to go head to head against him and I can't cover your ass when dealing with that many Fishmen," he whispered in reply, glaring at the gates. If he were on his own he would deal with this alone but with the swordsman here... it just made things complicated and he _couldn't_ show him his Curse, he just couldn't. It would put more than just himself at risk, "Our best bet is to wait until Arlong is out and deal with whoever is left behind, grab Nami and get out."

"That's cowardly," Zoro sneered.

"That's survival. Niisama pretty much told me to keep you alive so that's what I'm going to do you stubborn son'uva'bitch," Kai growled.

Zoro blinked, "Niisama?"

Oh yeah, Zoro didn't know, he wasn't conscious for that part. "Forget it. Luffy'll get pissed if I let you die," he corrected as the Fishmen called out to open the gates. It would take too long to explain the truth anyway. "Just try not to piss him off, Arlong has a notorious temper."

Zoro grumbled, "No promises."

Only too quickly were they floating to a stop in front of Arlong, Kai's eyes widening at the tattoo inscribed across his chest. That was the... then he..... The dark haired male hissed as the skinny Fishman grabbed his hair and cut the ropes around him, lashing his arms together behind his back and dropped him roughly on the concrete pier in front of them. Zoro only being treated a little bit more gently due to his injuries as the two of them were forcibly sat down in front of Arlong.

Ten minutes later and they were still going in circles; Kai had given up speaking and just allowed Zoro to dig his own grave. If he kept on calling them half-fish he was going to get his gall bladder torn out and eaten – even if it was true. He pointedly ignored all the typical BS he'd heard various Fishmen from that particular crew spout off, they weren't superior, they were just different and they thought it made them better. If anything they were abominations of nature, of Leviathan's Will. Fishmen were not natural creatures, they were not children of the Ocean, that title was reserved for their Mermaid ancestors and yet they believed that because they had a few advantages they were superior to all. It sounded uncomfortably familiar to something else, something that resonated within his fuzzy distant memories but he just _couldn't_ put his finger on it. It was giving him a headache and it was pissing him off.

"I've gotten sick and tired of that theory, Arlong!" a female voice declared practically dripping with venom. A very familiar female voice.

Zoro gaped at the sight of the familiar ginger haired thief as she stepped out of the shadows within the building, Kai blinked, he didn't think he'd ever seen her in a sleeveless top before – he had a sinking idea as to why now. There was something about the way she was walking as well; she was tense, wound tight, almost as though she were walking through a room of enemies... Maybe she was. After all, Kai knew as well as anyone that Fishmen were just as adept at cruelty and domination as any other species, and that mark on Arlong's chest meant he was probably more than familiar with the concept.

"Why so serious, Nami?" Arlong asked waving a careless hand. "You're special. You're our greatest Cartographer. You never fail to draw the most accurate maps for me," he told her, his tone suggesting he thought she was ridiculous for even taking offence at something she was so obviously exempt from – in his opinion anyway.

"Our brain compositions are different, so it's obvious why I can," she retorted, glancing at Arlong with an odd expression on her face. More specifically, her eyes.

"Hey Nami," Zoro growled, "What does he mean by '_our greatest cartographer_'?" he demanded, beginning to shake with anger as he pieced together the situation and came up with a very grim and negative picture. "Why are you so close to this guy?"

"What?" Arlong asked his tone light, "You guys know each other?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Nami snapped, her voice was.... strange. Kai frowned, she'd answered too quickly to be telling the truth as well. "He's just another victim. I gained a lot of loot from them. You don't even realise you've been deceived and you still come chasing after me," her voice was hard but... Kai swallowed, there was _something_ there, in the way she pitched her voice, as if to an audience instead of to Zoro. "You're just plain stupid," she mocked kneeling down to eye level and smirking.

"So this is your true nature?" Zoro asked flatly, "And to think, you hated pirates...."

"Surprised?" she asked, smiling an unnatural smile, "Everything was an act. You'll understand better after seeing this..." she shifted her arm and practically shoved a dark blue tattoo in front of them. It was old, Kai could see the skin had already healed and the mark had begun to fade somewhat, how long had she had that tattoo? It had to have been near to a decade! That meant... he paled, she got it before she was even ten-years-old!

"I'm part of this invincible crew," she declared, her voice pitched again. "An officer of Arlong's crew!" she declared smirking proudly.

Kai closed his eyes and lowered his head slightly, '_oh Nami, what have they done to you?_' he wondered silently as the girl giggled darkly at the expression on Zoro's face.

"See?" she asked, her arms folding under her chest as she shifted her weight, "You're following me now? From the beginning, I've only been using you. You guys aren't too shabby at fighting, y'know. You were a really useful bunch."

Arlong burst out laughing, wicked looking teeth flashing in the early afternoon sunlight, "You were blindly deceived, weren't you?" he asked, grinning maliciously. "She can forgive even her mother's death for the sake of money," Kai's eyes went wide at the look that blossomed onto the young girl's face. "She's a cold-hearted witch this one. You shouldn't have underestimated her."

Zoro's eyebrow lifted just a touch as he caught the look on the Navigator's face and then it clicked, "I get the picture now..." he closed his eyes and smirked bitterly, "I never did trust her from the beginning. I wouldn't be surprised if she was a murderer even."

Nami twitched a little, "If you understand, just get lost already!" she retorted, again, too quickly to completely hide how much that little sentence had actually _hurt_ her. "You're an eyesore."

What Kai hadn't been expecting was for Zoro to suddenly gather his weight and launch himself backwards into the water. His arms and feet were tied! There was no way he would be able to swim and escape! He was going to drown!

"IDIOT!" he shouted at the water, staring at the bubbles caught on the tiny lapping waves. He shifted to jump in after him only for a blur to shoot past him and launch into the water – the clatter of wooden heels informing him that it was Nami who'd just plunged in. "Nami...san...." he murmured, his eyes wide, did she have any idea what impact that would have on the Arlong Pirates? Better yet, what the hell was Zoro thinking putting himself _AND_ her at such a risk? Did... did he know about Kai's ability? About his curse? Did he honestly think that his curse would be enough to rescue him _and_ hold off Alrong and his people? He was going to get such a beating when Kai got his hands on him.

Kai breathed a near-silent sigh of relief as Nami surfaced, dragging a coughing and half drowned Zoro up at the same time.

"She's got him!"

"Hey! What are you doing, Nami?"

Kai scooted as close as he could without drawing attention to himself, just close enough to hear Nami's quiet hiss, "What do you think you're doing?"

Zoro coughed and spat up a mouthful of water, "Same to you, what do you think _you're_ going?" he rolled over and grinned at her, Kai suddenly wanted to hit him, "You can't even let one person die in front of you... Quit the act already," it was going to become real in a minute if the homicidal look in Nami's eye was anything to go by. "Help me here, idiot. I thought I was a goner there."

"Stop messing with me!" she cried, scrambling to her feet and stamping down on his back, Kai couldn't help the sharp intake he made as Zoro cried out in pain. If she reopened those stitches he was going to smack her backside until she couldn't sit down! "If you get involved with me any more, you'll die!" she snarled lifting him up by the throat.

He snorted, "I wonder about that..."

"Wonderful bandage you got there," she sneered brown eyes narrowing.

"I can't afford new clothes. This is a substitute," he informed her mockingly.

Nami punched him in the gut; she reared her arm back and put her entire weight behind the blow, sinking it into his stomach causing him to drop to the ground, teeth gritted with his forehead pressed to the concrete.

She turned and stalked back towards the building, "Hey, Nami. What are you planning for him?" Arlong demanded, apparently Kai had been forgotten in the uproar – not surprising, he had kept quiet for the majority of it.

"Lock him up. I'll take care of it," she declared harshly, "The other one too," she added, not even bothering to glance over her shoulder at Kai who merely blinked.

"Arlong-san! Arlong-san!" oh Leviathan, it was the fat one again.

"What's wrong, Bud?" the shark-toothed Fishman asked.

Fatso wobbled to a halt and lifted a hand, "Forgive me, there was a long nosed guy who was with them, but I failed to capture him," he explained looking as chagrined as a Fishman could at his failure.

Judging from the look of pure irritation on Zoro's face he was probably cursing Usopp for getting seen just as much as Kai currently was – though with less allusions to fornicating with animals in his ancestry.

"I think he fled into Kokoyashi Village, but..."

Arlong paused, turning away from the other Fishman and thinking for a bare moment, "Kokoyashi Village? Good timing," he admitted the smirk on his face becoming sinister, "I got some errands there. Shall I pay them a visit?" he asked, eyeing Nami who was now wearing a very unpleasant look on her face.

Why did Kai not like the sound of that?

"Arlong," he called, dragging everyone's attention to him; absently, he wondered just when the hell he'd given this much of a damn for people he was planning on ditching at the next town anyway? "Jinbei says to keep a cool head," he reported to the blue-grey skinned being in front of him. Watching with some measure of honest surprise at the abrupt look of mixed shock and horror that broke out across his face.

"What?" the Pirate demanded, launching himself to his feet. Nami perhaps had a bare second to jump backwards as he shoved past her and grabbed Kai by the throat, lifting him into the air, "What did you say filthy human!" he snarled, squeezing harshly on the delicate cartilage of the human's neck. "How do you know that name!"

Kai gasped, he didn't struggle though, "Just.... passing it.... on.... from Niis-sama," he rasped out, his face feeling very hot as the blood and air flow to his brain were cut off by the Fishman's grip, "Shi... bu-kai.... Den-Den.... too f-far...." he gasped uselessly for air his eyes beginning to roll backwards into his skull, "......_hhhhrkkss_-" his vocal cords seized up and Arlong dropped him to the floor.

Kai crumpled, dragging in air desperately as he coughed on the floor, his neck was going to bruise something awful, hopefully Arlong was distracted away from Usopp and this Kokoyashi Village – he had a feeling it was Nami's hometown judging by her reaction to the Fishman's idea of going there.

Arlong glared distastefully down at the human crumpled at his feet, he would like nothing more than to stomp him into paste but... he knew better. This human.....

"Throw them in the cells," he barked stomping off towards the gate.

Crap. It backfired. Now he was pissed off _and_ heading towards the Village.

Fuck.

Kai choked, panting for air as one of the lesser Fishmen picked him up – being substantially more gentle now that he'd dropped that particular name – and hustled him and Zoro towards the building and sitting them down in one of the cells. Stomping off, closing and locking the door behind them.

Silence.

Then, "What the hell was that about?" Zoro demanded staring at him.

"What... was what?" Kai rasped painfully.

"That! Earlier! What you said."

"Oh. That," he wheezed, "Jinbei.... Jinbei's a Shichibukai, Fishman, he used to be the Captain of Arlong's old Pirate Crew. He.... You saw that tat on Arlong's chest... right?" he asked, catching Zoro's nod from the corner of his eye, "It's got history," he stated, "Started off as somethin' else, a slave brand," Zoro stiffened, his eyes going wide, "Grand Line's a dangerous place, you gotta watch your back or someone'll carve out a pound of meat to sell from it. World Government endorses it, o'course," he added, scowling as his voice grew a little stronger. "Couple o' years back, Fishman by the name of Fisher Tiger broke in to the Holy Land, freed all the slaves. Took all the Fishmen and made a Pirate crew, the Sunny Pirates. That tat you saw on Arlong is a mod of the original slave brand, now it connects him to the Sunny's. Tiger died a while back, Jinbei got made Captain an' he sent Arlong to East Blue. Dunno why, he never said. Jin got made Shichibukai after that and disbanded the Sunnys. Started hearin' bad rumours 'bout what Arlong'd been up to, called Niisama over Den-Den Mushi to see if he had any info since we were headed this way. Asked me to pass on a message. Haven't been able to find Arlong till now. He's been mighty quiet till recently."

The door abruptly sounded, cutting off any questions Zoro may have been about to ask – mainly about who the hell Kai's older brother was and just where he got this kind of information, how the hell did he know the Grand Line so well? Slavery? _Shichibukai?_

The two looked up, it was Nami... Nami with a knife in her hand and a grim look on her face.

"Nami...." Kai breathed, watching as she slashed the ropes that restrained them and turned away.

"Leave quickly," she told them over her shoulder, "Before Arlong gets back."

Kai glanced to Zoro as he rubbed his wrists. Wouldn't Arlong ask awkward questions if he returned and found them gone? Or was he thinking too smart? Jinbei did say that while Arlong was a good planner, he wasn't very bright and only matched him in physical strength alone. The two looked up at the sound of a familiar clatter, Zoro's sword left lying in the doorway as Nami walked away.

They paused for several beats before Kai casually threw the remains of the ropes over his shoulder, Zoro smirking slightly as he followed the shorter male's example before grabbing Wado Ichimonji off the floor.

"How do you want to do this?" he asked, watching as the shorter male pinned his hair back more securely and cracked his knuckles, bouncing from foot to foot.

"You take the right, I'll handle the left?" Kai suggested glancing up at him.

"Sounds good to me," the swordsman announced pulling his blade out, he paused by the door and smirked, "Ladies first."

Kai shoved him out first.

It was a party.

The two of them launched themselves to their designated sides, as neither of them had any problem with killing Pirates blood was soon slicking the concrete flooring.

Wado Ichimonji – despite not fighting with her partners – sang through the air and bit into thick abrasive flesh without problem. Zoro was not in the least bit handicapped without the use of his other two swords as he twisted out of harms way and angled the blade upwards into a Fishman's throat, slicing cleanly through his face and digging in just enough to pierce his brain. His foot lashed out and knocked another one off balance – he looked rather a bit like the bastard love-child of a moray eel and one of Usopp's ancestors – Zoro slammed the hilt of his blade into his temple, dropping him like a house of cards, and stabbed the tip of Wado Ichimonji into another's shoulder, casually throwing him aside.

He only just managed to hop backwards as the broken corpse of a Fishman almost smacked into him from the other side of the compound.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE THROWING!" he roared comically shaking a fist at a rather sheepish looking Kai.

"Sorry! I didn't think I hit him _that_ hard!" at this, Zoro had to wonder just how strong the smaller man was.

While Zoro was having some fun slicing and dicing himself some Sushi, Kai found himself wishing he had his fighting gloves – Fishman skin was like sandpaper, he wasn't going to have much skin left on his knuckles at this rate.

The dark haired male ducked a thrown punch, grabbing at the outstretched arm he slammed his shoulder into the massive creature's side and heaved it up and over, slamming it down onto the floor and _wrenching_ his arm viciously, the gunshot CRACK resounding through the yard informing those who noticed that he'd just snapped the Fishman's forearm clean. The Piranha variant screeched in pain, grabbing at his arm as his friends all rushed at the small human, believing that superior numbers would put him down.

Kai dove to the ground, his body twisting in mid-air in such a way that it _screamed_ at him, bringing his legs up and aiming for the closest one in an awkward back handspring. Nothing could have prepared the Fishman for such a manoeuvre; their bodies weren't built for that kind of flexibility. Kai's feet _slammed _into his chest and launched him backwards, tumbling into the rest of the group with such force that a few ended up splashing into the water, using the momentum from the spring, he whipped his elbow out and slammed it into a Fishman's chest, cratering into his ribs even as he spun and smashed a fist _through_ his face and into his skull.

Say whatever you liked about how delicate he looked, Kai knew he was a Bad Man when he finally cut loose. You had to be if you hoped to survive the Grand Line, or get such a bad ass rep in places like Hannabal or Jaya's Mock Town.

He skipped backwards a step, lashing out with his foot in a low kick catching a tall Fishman on the knee and making him stagger backwards as he tried to aim a high kick at the human. Kai hopped forward, ducking his upper body low, spun and snapped his foot up, lashing him across the head harshly. Damn, he was weaker than he used to be, that blow would have crushed his skull two years back.

Zoro had to admit, Kai was good. He'd finished on his side quite quickly – if only because the Fishmen were stupid and seemed to think that they could run _through_ Wado Ichimonji without harm, add to that they were really damn slow.

It was a treat watching him to be honest, the swordsman leaned against one of the pillars thoroughly entertained as the smaller male lashed out with feet, fists, elbows, knees, even headbutting one of his opponents once – though he looked a little wall eyed after that and notably didn't do it again much to Zoro's amusement. He was quite the vicious fighter, often ramming a fist _through_ one of the Fishmen's chest or eyesocket, or in one case crushing his throat with a well aimed elbow.

"Need a hand?" he asked chuckling as one of the ugly bastards managed to trap Kai's arms to his sides in a bear-hug.

"Nope!" the dark haired human retorted, "All under control!" he announced kicking a foot up and beaning the Fishmen in the forehead, making him loosen his hold, not enough to break it, but enough for Kai to slide down, grab his shorts and yank them down with him. The Fishman squeaked and looked down in surprise just in time for Kai to kick upwards with a foot and crush his nose, throwing him backwards with considerable force as the human rolled to his feet and looked around at the cluster of fallen Fishmen around him.

"I can see that," he admitted sniggering at the de-pants'd Fishman unconscious on the floor. The green eyed male just smirked, casually kicking one of the Fishmen in the face as he regained awareness – sending straight back into unconsciousness again. Zoro shivered slightly, "Wonder if they've got any shirts around here...." he muttered pushing away from the pillar and vanishing into the building to hunt one down.

Kai meanwhile went through making sure each of the Fishmen weren't going to be getting back up again.

He wasn't sure when the swordsman returned; just that it was at some point between him knocking the pufferfish Fishman out and cleaning the blood from his shins by dipping his feet in the water and rubbing. He was surprised there was skin left on his legs and shins though, the material of his trousers had already been worn through and shredded by the Fishmen's skin.

"She told us to escape, but the only thing we have to do lies here," Zoro suddenly mused aloud, grabbing Kai's attention from where he had started to clean the blood from his hands, "I promised Luffy I'd get her back, didn't I?" he shifted in Arlong's throne. The smaller of the pair simply shook his head realising the swordsman was merely thinking out loud before turning his attention back to the water. "Now then, what should I do? Things are getting complicated."

"More than I think you realise," Kai pointed out, straightening up and cracking his spine with a sigh of relief. While the Fishmen weren't all that powerful, it still felt good to cut loose and hit something _really_ hard – he needed more training though, he'd gotten weaker since hitting East Blue, not surprising really; nothing had been much of a challenge combat wise. His skills had gotten rusty and his strength had waned, he'd have to do something about that.

Zoro's eyebrow rose, "Oh?"

Kai nodded, "You saw through Nami's act back there, but I don't think you realise just.... how _big_ that act might be," he sat down in front of the taller man, ignoring the fact that he was essentially putting himself at a lower level – his shins and feet hurt like a bitch. "You saw her tattoo, that thing is old. Almost a decade I would say. Meaning she's had it before she even hit ten-years-old, Zoro. What happened to her parents? We know her mother was killed, most likely by Arlong himself judging by her reaction, but what about everyone else? Her father? Her village? Why would Arlong, a well known racist and human _hater_ allow a little girl into his crew and treat her as equal enough to brand her with his sign? Make her an officer?" he shook his head and touched lightly at a blossoming black bruise on his leg with a scowl, "I think Nami's in trouble, _lots_ of trouble."

Zoro hummed.

Kai shook his head slightly and tugged at a strand of hair, pulling a face when his hand came back wet and sticky with blood, oh great he got it in his hair too.

Pulling the stick of holly from his hair the green eyed male slowly got to his feet, wincing slightly as he did so, and made his way to the water, climbing in.

"What are you doing?" Zoro asked, frowning.

"Fishman blood crystallises as it dries and smells like all hell. They don't sweat either so it's extremely doubtful they have a bathroom," he paused and looked over his shoulder from where he was treading water, smirking at the swordsman, "Am I making you nervous with my naked feet? My wet naked feet? Are they making you all hot and bothered?" he asked mockingly, his voice all but purring.

For a moment, it looked as though Zoro was contemplating some kind of witty retort but then decided it was too much effort and just snrked, leaning back in his seat and deciding to take a brief nap. Kai could handle anything that decided to pay them a visit.

Chuckling quietly at the other man's easy acquiescence, he took the opportunity to strip and completely clean all the blood off. If someone did show up, he'd just have to kick their asses with his displayed to all the world – Mihawk, the perverted bastard, had attacked him in the tub once just to see how he would react. Kai had been so shocked that he reacted in pure instinct and paid no mind to the fact he was butt-ass naked as he dodged the Shichibukai's attacks and then belted him one across the jaw with his foot. Mihawk merely smirked at him afterwards and said the '_lovetap_' was worth the show. Kai slipped a hallucinogenic in his tea later that day. Apparently it was raining Purple Polka dotted Porcupines in Prehistoric Peninsulas that evening, at least according to a _profoundly_ stoned Juraquille Mihawk.

Thankfully the water was quite cold despite the warm sunshine overhead. He could tell he was going to have some nasty bruises on his shins and elbows but at least they wouldn't be debilitating. Or swollen to the size of grapefruits.

Feeling all together much more human as he climbed out of the water, the dark haired male wrung out his hair, pulled it back up and then wandered into the building in search of dry clothes – his current set lying in the sun drying – pausing only briefly to kick another Fishman as he seemed to crawl back into the realm of consciousness. It took him about ten minutes of rummaging to find a pale blue button up, some bandages and a pair of baggy khaki coloured balloon pants that ended just below the knee. Swiping them, he got dressed and wrapped his knuckles and feet, he had a feeling there was going to be more fighting today and a lot of it against Arlong's men. Perhaps the Fishman himself.

He returned to the main courtyard just in time to see Zoro peer over a wall, he hopped over the fallen Fishmen and scampered over to the swordsman – not bothering to grab his clothes – and climbed up beside him.

"Huh? Who the heck are you?" a nasally voice demanded sounding rather panicked. There was a pause and then, "M-me? I'm Hatchan. Call me Hachi."

Kai hopped up and peered over the wall, it was an Octopus Fishman with a familiar tattoo on his forehead. Kai winced slightly and Zoro shifted, nudging him gently.

"Are you a Fishman too?" the swordsman asked making Kai blink and give him an odd look. It was kind of obvious that he was.

"Of course. Of course," Hachi replied beak in the air, he seemed very proud of the fact, "I'm a charming Octopus Fishman!" he explained, tilting to the side and waving his tentacles bonelessly, "Do I look like a human?" he asked sounding genuinely curious about the answer.

"I-I guess not," Zoro admitted leaning on his elbow and watching as Hachi did his strange Octopus movements in front of them.

"Are you with the Marines or just a guest?" he asked making Kai frown, Marines? Why on earth would the Marines be here? He thought about it and then wanted to hit himself, he kept forgetting that just because the Marines weren't under the complete dictatorship of the World Government – more specifically the Tenryuubito – that there weren't plenty of foul eggs in there taking bribes and trying to grab as much power as they could. Disgusting animals.

"Guest?" Zoro muttered before glancing over his shoulder at the carnage behind them, he exchanged a look with Kai. "Yeah, we're guests," he lied.

"But you know, Arlong-san isn't here right now, right?" Hachi asked innocently and Kai almost felt bad about playing him like this.

"Yeah. Where'd he go?" Zoro asked, turning to overlook the court-yard and make sure no one woke up and interfered. Not likely, Kai had been very thorough in his examinations. None of them would be waking up any time soon today – that other one probably just had a hard head.

"I heard that there was a long nosed stranger that was trying to run away." Hachi explained, picking up his fishing rods, "They say two more men were caught and held here though. He went to Kokoyashi Village to catch him."

The two exchanged another glance, they sighed simultaneously, time to go and save the long nosed one.

"That Kokoyashi Village, how do we reach it?" Zoro asked jumping down from the wall, Kai following suit only to have his legs give out upon landing. He cursed as he landed on his hands and knees, not standing quite yet as his legs trembled ever so slightly, fuck he really needed to get back in practice! "You alright?" Zoro asked placing a hand on his back.

"Fine. Just... _really_ out of practice," he muttered scornfully under his breath, scowling unhappily. Zoro's eyebrow climbed into his hairline, that certainly didn't look like '_out of practice_' to him, but then again, he had no idea what Kai was capable of.

"Are you alright, Miss?" Hachi asked waving his tentacles around in a panic.

Kai twitched slightly as Zoro pressed his lips together, hiding his amusement, "Ahha, yes, yes I'm alright. My legs are just a bit sore," Kai confessed smiling tightly at the Fishman through gritted teeth, silently vowing to kick his skull in next time they met.

Hachi nodded decisively, "Arlong-san says to treat his guests well, Arlong-san always says that we need to treat girls with gentleness because Nami-san gets upset when we hurt them. And Nami-san is Nakama, so she should be happy," the simple minded Octopus declared, "I will take you to Kokoyashi," he declared with a self-important nod.

"T-that really isn't ne- whoa!" the green eyed male squawked as Hachi leaned down and picked him up, Zoro shifting slightly as if to pull his sword before the Fishman set him down in a floating pot of all things, with surprising care.

"Climb in," the Fishman said to Zoro before diving into the water.

The two exchanged glances and Zoro climbed in, being careful not to step on Kai's bare feet with his boots, a moment later the pot was moving as the Fishman dragged it along after him through the water – wearing it like a backpack.

"If it annoys you so much, maybe you should cut your hair?" Zoro suggested catching the irate look on the smaller male's face.

"I can't," Kai stated with a bitter look on his face, "It always grows back the morning after. I shaved it all off once, got up the next morning and it was exactly the same length as it was before I cut it."

Zoro pulled a face, "That's..."

"Weird? Demonic? Freakish?" Kai filled in flatly.

"I was going to say odd but I guess those fit as well," the swordsman grunted, "Apart from that, what else can you do?" he asked absently, shifting just a little bit to block the majority of the conversation off to the Fishman taking them to Kokoyashi.

Kai was silent.

"I can... well, combat wise I can use most anything as a weapon, I'm damn good at hand to hand as well. But special ability wise... they're unnatural, they don't come from a Devil Fruit or technology or even any specific training, Shishou said I used them differently from the others. I can't use them that much though, I get abominable headaches and if I do, I pass out or fall into a coma depending on how much I put into it. I think... I was born with them. I have vague memories of using this," he pulled the length of holly from his hair, allowing the wet mass to fall down his back, "to make things float, or catch fire. There were words too, and actions but..." he shook his head and twisted his hair back up, sliding the stick into place, "I just don't remember them. The accident where I lost my memories, I think it changed my power too because it never hurt to do those things before only now."

"Maybe you're a witch?" Zoro suggested, he'd meant it as a joke but the way Kai stiffened and pressed a hand to his head suggested something else. "Oi, you alright?" he asked, unfolding his arms in concern.

The smaller male waved him off, "Yes, yes I'm fine. It happens. Flashbacks, memories. I'll be alright in a few minutes. My head is just aching."

The rest of the trip was done in an uncomfortable silence with Kai nursing his headache and Zoro glancing at him every now and again as if he were something fragile that might break, which was just fucking annoying, or a puzzle he couldn't quite figure out, equally annoying just not as insulting.

"Here we go!" Hachi called turning in the water so they could climb out onto the wooden dock – Zoro going first and lifting Kai up when the other male attempted to get out himself, the glare he got for his so called '_chivalry_' made the swordsman smirk. He took an inordinate amount of fun in getting under the older male's skin. "This is Kokoyashi Village," the Octopus explained pointing to the quaint little white-washed village, it looked like a ghost town to Kai's rather morbid imagination. "Arlong-san should be there," he explained.

"Thanks," Zoro stated, one hand shoved in his pocket the other on the small of Kai's back.

"You're welcome," Hachi chirped, "Please come again!" he added as he pushed away from the docks and began to swim back to the Compound, cheerfully announcing that he was returning as he did so.

"What a weird Fishman," the swordsman mused, giving the cheerful creature a somewhat disbelieving wave. He turned towards the village, catching sight of a few people further up, "That Saw-Nose came to this village," he muttered grabbing Kai's attention from where he had been studying one of the near-by cliff tops, he could see a grave marker at the top of it. "Nevermind! Let's go and find our long nosed friend," he announced, beginning to march off towards the villagers pushing/guiding Kai along with him.

"Are we still going to kill him?" Kai asked rhetorically.

Zoro looked like he was seriously thinking it over.

* * *

Kai cursed quietly under his breath as he kept pace with Zoro, they'd missed Usopp by minutes – one of Arlong's men had managed to catch him after his little performance in rescuing one of the Villagers.

Kai had wanted to stay and ask some more questions about Nami and the Fishmen – Usopp had a good head on his shoulders and while he couldn't lie very well, some of his so called '_lies_' were true in the Grand Line so chances were Arlong may have thought him telling the truth – but Zoro had bolted off at a harsh run to get to the Park. Going in completely the wrong direction as well.

Kai ended up having to run and catch up, grab him, turn him around and then run back with him through the village and into the rice fields.

"What was that noise?" Zoro demanded a loud crash shattering the air around them. "Was there an explosion or something!"

"Dunno! Who cares! If we don't hurry Usopp'll get killed 'cause we were too tough on those weaklings back at the park!" Kai retorted speeding up a little.

"aaaaaaa_aaaaaaAAAAAAA__**AAAAAAHHHHHH**__**HHHHHHH**_!" the two looked up just as the trees at the roadside exploded outwards, an unfamiliar ship with a very familiar crew blasting out.

"Luffy!" Zoro yelped.

"Oh Zoro! Kai!" the seventeen year old greeted as the ship smacked into Zoro and shot off.

"_JESUS FUCKING MARY AND JOSEPH!_" Kai shouted jumping backwards out of the way, "IF YOU OPEN THOSE STITCHES LUFFY I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" he shouted shaking a fist, only to squawk as a rubberised arm latched onto his waist and wrenched him off his feet, yanking him towards the speeding boat. He smacked into Yosaku and the two of them tumbled to the floor of the wooden boat even as chunks of it ripped off until there was practically nothing left.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING AT!" Zoro roared bolting upright blood dribbling down the side of his face as they finally crashed to a stop and dug themselves out of the wooden wreckage, Luffy straightening out his clothes and Kai carefully pushing himself out of the wreckage and off from where he had been on top of Yosaku – who was looking a little dazed to be honest, happy, but dazed.

"We're not playing," Luffy told him bluntly, "We came to take Nami back with us. Did you find her? Where's Usopp and Johnny?" he asked brushing off a few wood splinters.

Zoro twitched and jumped to his feet, Kai not far behind as the two of them began to make their way back to the road, "We have to hurry, now! Arlong caught Usopp and he's gonna get killed if we don't get there now!"

"He was already killed!" the group whipped around as one, Johnny stood in front of them, tears streaming down his face and his hands shaking. "You're too late," he whimpered his hands fisting, "Nami-aneki. She... She _killed_ Usopp-aniki!"

"What!"

* * *

**Fin. Next chapter is the conclusion of the Arlong Arc.**

XDD On another note: MY TWENTY-FIRST BIRTHDAY IS ON THE 19TH OF APRIL! I have the greatest birthday present ever though, MINAMI CON is _literally_ the day before. I will be cosplaying as Aerith on Saturday (Through lack of other clothing options, would have gone as Tifa but I don't own any leather and I'm not prancing around with my belly out) and Kai on Sunday. Any Zoro cosplayers shall be terrorised.

Pictures will be posted on my Facebook.

I've even been given permission by my boyfriend to Yaoi for my fangirls/boys – but only if there are a few Yuri shots of myself with a Tifa/Yuffie cosplayer. XDD;; And there needs to be a picture of me beating Sephiroth up. Which y'know, I was planning on doing anyway.

LINK TO FACEBOOK PROFILE IS ON BIO – homepage link leads to my DeviantART account.

**SPECIAL LOVE TO MELISSA RAGSDALE FOR HER LOVELY KAI FANART – AND LOVE TO STALKER OF STORIES FOR BETAING AGAIN!**

* * *

**16/05/2010: Just a quick edit as Ffnet decided it didn't like my page breaks. And bad news for those hoping for yaoi/yuri, there were no Tifa's or Yuffie's so the deal with the bf was off. Plus – the only Zoro cosplayer I found had a girlfriend and I actually liked her, she was awesome and they were both very nice. I didn't even bother trying in the end.**


	5. Chapter 5

**IGNITION**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

* * *

No way. No damn way. He didn't believe it.

Kai refused to believe it. No way Nami-san could kill Usopp-kun, she _wouldn't_ even if she _could_. Not her style, not within the realm of her consideration. She was a thief, not a murderer.

Luffy snapped and launched himself at Johnny, grabbing him by the collar and shouting. Kai didn't bother listening, his mind was too busy to pay attention to what the other Pirate was snarling.

Nami was a member of Arlong's Pirates. True, Arlong was about as ruthless as the bastards who burned that symbol into his chest – just a hell of a lot more honest about it – but Nami had been accepted as a child, no doubt after the death of her mother. Meaning that it was a chance that Arlong had been the one to kill her and then force Nami into joining him. It was a more than likely scenario, Arlong hated humans after what had happened to himself and his companions, he would be more than willing to return the favour if he saw a talent he would be able to exploit. Nothing about Nami's demeanour hinted towards any kind of murderous intent, nothing even close and Kai had more than enough experience with that sensation of death at his back.

Kai rubbed at his face, something was afoot here, something was happening and it was _big_, it was big and important and dangerous and Nami was risking her life and her soul for it.

And Arlong was at the root of the problem – he was certain of it.

"Who's your friend, Luffy?" the familiar voice of their Navigator called, scorn and derision thick in her tone. The group whipped around to see her stood in the middle of the road a cold look of annoyance on her face, arms folded with her Bo staff in hand. Kai tilted his head slightly, why was she only wearing one glove? Was she injured? He could smell blood.

"Oi, Nami," Luffy exclaimed dropping Johnny like a sack of potatoes and grinning happily at her.

"What are you doing here?" the ginger haired woman asked an eyebrow climbing towards her hairline.

Luffy blinked uncomprehendingly as he shifted his hat, "Why are you asking?" he asked genuinely confused, "You're my friend, so I came to take you with us," which in his simplistic mind was the only reason he needed to declare war on the world. Kai refrained from smiling, Luffy really was like Shanks.

Nami's lip curled, "You give me such a headache," she sneered, "Friend? Don't make me laugh. All you need is someone to give you a hand, am I right?"

Kai turned away from the conversation as Sanji started flailing around and calling out to her, green eyes flickered around them carefully. She'd come alone, which meant Arlong didn't know how many of them there were, nor who they were. Meaning she hadn't told him anything beyond what she'd said at the Compound. It clicked then.

Nami was trying to protect them by pushing them away.

He ignored all the shouting and watched the woman with a new understanding, noting the white knuckled grip she had on her staff, the tight muscles bunched around her neck and calves, how her chin was jutted out angrily.

"_STOP PLAYING AROUND!_" Kai jolted out of his musing as Nami shrieked, her face was white and she looked to be on the verge of tears, "_YOU'LL BE KILLED!_" Luffy just snored from where he was lying on the floor spread eagle sleeping and the young Thief tensed, bristling with fury before screaming, "_FINE! DO WHAT YOU WANT!_" and running off.

Luffy continued to snore.

"Troublesome," Kai muttered folding his arms and sitting down.

* * *

"Since eight years ago, that girl has never cried again, nor has she ever asked for help," Nojiko – Nami's adoptive older sister – explained, her burgundy red-brown eyes on the floor as she told the tragic story of Nami's decision to join the Arlong Pirates, what brought her to that point. Kai's nails dug into the skin of his knees, he hated it when he was right. _Hated_ it. The aqua haired woman breathed deep, "She doesn't want to die like our mother. She was ten-years-old and decided to fight alone in that situation. Have you ever realised how much pain she has been going through?"

It was horrible, but that was just a sign of the times. Nami's whole life had been bad followed by bad, the few bright rays of sunlight being snatched away by the storm clouds. Orphaned in a Pirate attack before she was old enough to have any memory of her birth parents, adopted by a former Marine called Bellemere who owned a Tangerine grove in Kokoyashi and could barely afford to support herself, let alone two little girls. Orphaned again when their mother didn't have enough money to save her life along with theirs and so gave it up to save them, shot in the head by Arlong in front of her daughters, kidnapped and forced into the Crew to draw maps to aid them in the planned future conquering of East Blue. And the deal... if Nami could bring 100,000,000 Belli before Arlong's eyes, she could buy Kokoyashi Village and her freedom and never be bothered by the Fishmen again. No one would have to die, no one would be hurt and best of all... at the end of it all, she could finally let her mother's spirit rest. No wonder she was so obsessed with money, her whole life revolved around it, good and bad.

Green eyes glinted murderously.

Usopp thumbed his nose looking angry and hurt on his Crewmate's behalf, "Because it was the only way to save the Village, she decided to join the people who killed her mother."

"I WON'T LET ANYONE WHO HURTS NAMI-SWAN'S FEELINGS LIVE PEACEFULLY!" Sanji roared arms pumping enthusiastically as he snorted angrily. Nojiko rolled her eyes and cracked him around the skull with her fist; Kai decided that the two women were obviously at least related in spirit if not in blood. "Why'd you hit me, Ojou-sama?" Sanji whimpered rubbing frantically at the knot forming on the back of his head.

Nojiko waggled a finger and pointed it at them, "I came here to tell you not to do anything stupid," she reminded them lightly, "If you get involved, those Fishmen will become suspicious and Nami's plan for the past eight years will be _ruined,_" she snapped eyes narrowed before she looked away, the harsh glare on her features softening into a sad frown. "So, don't make any more trouble for my sister. You'll only hurt her."

Kai shook his head, "Nojiko-san, you know Arlong won't hold to that deal. Nami-san is much too valuable to him. He will find a way around it, even if it means he wipes Kokoyashi off the map along with everyone in it," green eyed watched as the aqua haired woman turned away entirely, not answering. So... she was aware of that as well. "We won't turn away from her," he stated bluntly making the woman stiffen and turn to argue, Kai cut her off, "No, hear us out first. Luffy-kun's set on Nami-san joining us as our Navigator. We like her and despite everything she's done to us I'm fairly sure Luffy still trusts her – even if he is completely unaware of her circumstances. We'll stand back and let her handle things her own way for now. But the minute she asks for our help or her life is put in danger..." he trailed off, glancing to the other men in the area studying their facial expressions before turning to Nojiko with hard eyes.

"We will _destroy_ Arlong Park, and every Fishman in it."

* * *

Watching Nami's breakdown in the middle of the street was painful.

Kai's knuckles were white from where he had been clenching his fists so hard, blood dribbling down his fingers as blunt nails bit into the skin of his palms. He could see Sanji shaking ever so slightly with repressed fury as he lit another cigarette, just to keep his hands busy as Nami shouted at their Captain, her voice high and choked with tears as she scrapped dirt from the ground and threw it behind her, trying to ward the younger Pirate off.

Usopp's body was tense and his teeth were gritted, occasionally his breathing would hitch in sympathetic pain even as Nami finally fell quiet.

"Luffy..." she whispered, "Help me," she pleaded.

The seventeen-year-old nodded, pulling his precious hat off and jamming it onto Nami's head none too gently startling the ginger haired girl out of her tears as he marched off a few steps and took a deep breath.

"_**HELL YEAH!**_"

Kai smirked at the bellow and pushed himself away from the palm-tree he had been leaning on, they would be fine, Luffy would be more than a match for Arlong. His concerns right now lay with Nami.

"I'll catch up later," he stated quietly passing Luffy who merely grunted in acknowledgement as he marched towards the others, glancing at him briefly. Luffy wasn't good at dealing with comfort, his own ham-handed kindness and attempts at comfort usually caused more trouble than help, so he would leave this to Kai. The green eyed male nodded at the unspoken request from... well he guessed Luffy was his captain now, it wasn't like Kai could just ditch them after this, he smirked slightly – they'd never let him leave! Besides, they needed _someone_ with common sense to keep them out of trouble when they finally reached the Grand Line.

"Let's go," the dark haired Captain seethed as he met with the others, Kai kneeling down beside Nami and wrapping his arms around the motionless girl ignoring the blood that smeared onto his stolen shirt.

She whimpered as the group marched off in the direction of Arlong Park, tears streaming down her cheeks again, "Oh Kami, Kami, I've killed them," she croaked trembling, "They'll die. I sent them to their deaths!"

Kai ran a hand down her back and shushed her, "Have faith Nami-san," he smiled at her using a thumb to wipe away the dribbles of wet from her cheek, he turned to watch their backs as they walked away. "I've met a lot of great men and women in my time," he smirked, "and they aren't the type to let some ex-slave turned dictator stop them."

Nami sobbed, scrubbing at her eyes as she clung to the older male tightly, Kai's arms wrapped around her tightly as he gently rubbed her back.

"Have faith."

* * *

Nami had made a real mess of her arm; it was going to scar for certain.

Tying a knot in the crisp white bandages, Kai rocked backwards on his heels to study the orange haired girl as she sniffled and clutched at Luffy's straw hat as though it were a precious treasure or a newborn infant. She seemed so young and fragile at that moment, shivering against the wood of her childhood home, the scent of tangerines drifting around them. And then she looked up and Kai saw the woman who had the stones to go out alone and steal from bloodthirsty cutthroats with a smile on her face and a song in her heart.

"We have to go. I'm not letting them face Arlong alone," she declared grabbing her Bo Staff from where it had been leaning against the wall beside her.

Kai nodded and got to his feet, "Agreed. I shouldn't have even let Zoro go, if that idiot has opened his stitches I'm going to kick his ass from here to Raftel and back again," Nami giggled weakly as she got to her feet.

"Let's go," she declared, feeling a little nauseous as she took off running towards Arlong Park with Kai on her heels.

Faith, he told her, have faith... She didn't think she had any of that left, she didn't think she had any hope left, she didn't think she could be so happy, ever be happy again, after Bellemere-san... no, after _Okaasan_'s death.

But then along comes an idiot with a ratty straw hat that he calls a treasure, an idiot who thinks fighting with a katana in his mouth looks cool, a compulsive lying idiot who liked explosives too much and a secretive idiot who knows entirely too much about the Grand Line and the pirates on it to be a regular sailor or even a regular pirate. She didn't even have the slightest idea about why that idiot Love Cook was with them, but he was here and he was going to fight for her. They were idiots. They were idiots and they were fighting Arlong for the biggest idiot of all of them. They were fighting for her.

She was an idiot.

They were fast approaching Arlong Park, Kai could see all the villagers from Kokoyashi stood outside and what looked to be a pair of bruised and bloody swordsmen with them, Yosaku and Johnny.

"Arlong!" Nami called slowing to a stop.

"Nami-anesan!"

"Nami!"

"Na-chan!"

"Kai-san!"

If Arlong was surprised by their appearance he didn't show it, not that Kai would expect him to. Humans were insects to him, he didn't care if one showed up or didn't show up.

Kai ignored the exchange between Arlong and Nami, more concerned about the two idiots on the floor, Sanji who was on his hands and knees spitting up blood and Zoro who was just sprawled there in a growing puddle of his own blood. _Idiot!_ He opened his stitches!

"I'm sorry everyone!" Nami called catching his attention, whipping around to face the villagers, "Are you willing to fight with me!" she cried smiling recklessly at the gathering.

Approval was instantaneous as every person there roared in agreement, farming implements hoisted towards the sky. Kai just smirked and tugged at a strand of hair, how on earth were the Marines going to explain a group of pirates liberating an island from a monster they couldn't handle?

"**BEH-WWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**"

Everyone jerked and whipped around, a large fountain of water spitting up into the sky just beyond the walls of the Park catching their attention.

"What was that!" Arlong snarled.

Sanji grinned as he saw it, "He's back, the only thing left is to destroy that rock!" he rasped happily.

"So that's what you were on about," Zoro groaned rolling over and pushing himself up on trembling arms. The swordsman took a deep breath, eyes flickering to Nami who was stood beside Kai and thrust out an arm, flashing them the thumbs-down and making Kai growl in displeasure. "I can give you 30 seconds, I can't take more than that," the green haired male told the cook, slotting Wado Ichimonji between his teeth.

"30 seconds is more than enough," Sanji retorted and lunged into the water.

"We didn't have a fountain over there," Arlong rumbled his eyes narrowing, "Is it that Rubber Bastard?"

Zoro swiped at him with Johnny's sword, catching him on the cheek, "Don't worry, there's nothing going on," he rasped panting harshly as blood dripped onto the floor from his crimson stained clothing. "You Half-Fish freak."

Arlong growled, "I told you not to say that word. Do you want to die that badly, Roronoa Zoro?"

"_**ROTTEN EGGS SHOT!**_"

Kai rolled his eyes, this was taking too long, time for him to step in. The dark haired male stepped forward, shifted, took a breath and then –

"_Soru._"

Vanished.

As a rule, Kai hated using any of the Rokushiki techniques, they made his head spin and his muscles seize up and cramp later that day when he stopped moving, they took a lot of stamina and muscle control. Stamina and control he just didn't have these days, he'd gotten fat and lazy since leaving the Grand Line. But, he was more than capable enough of dealing with this... _guppy _for now.

The rush of air that filled the Fishman's ears was the only warning he had before Kai's knee connected with the side of his skull and flung him like a rag doll to the other side of the Park.

Nami's jaw dropped.

"Wha, what?" she gaped.

Kai rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck to the side, "You should pay more attention to your surroundings," he told the small dispersing cloud of brick dust and rubble. He gave a brief irritated glance at Zoro who was just staring at him and dripping blood everywhere before turning his attention back to the older sea creature as he heaved himself out of the wrecked wall.

"You see, I have this thing," he began, "I hate dictators. I hate people, beings, creatures, spirits, gods, whatever, I hate it when they think they're above someone else simply because they're different," Kai's smile was sharp and angry, green eyes narrowing, "And regardless of what happened with the Tenryuubito, you had no right to do that to Nami or Kokoyashi," Arlong frowned so... He really wasn't an East Blue native, and he knew about the Slave Rings at the Holy city Mariejois, either he was ridiculously well informed, or a Grand Island native like he himself. The Shark Fishman arched an eyebrow as the dark haired male bounced from foot to foot, clenching and unclenching his fists, "And now you're going to pay for it – _**Soru**_."

CRACK!

Arlong hit the ground face first, concrete shattering around him as Kai's foot slammed down onto his skull before he landed lightly on top of him and walked a few steps away, "Plus, you just had to ruin all the hard work I put into patching up that sword wielding moron over there."

"oi," Zoro grumbled.

There was a beat of silence before laughter suddenly filled the air, "_Shaa ha ha ha ha!_" stones and rubble sloughed off the Fishman's body as he pushed himself up from the ground, unharmed for the most part, only sporting a bloody lip for the high speed attacks. "Rokushiki," he growled, eyeing the seemingly fragile human in front of him, "How did an insect like you learn such an ability in East Blue?"

Kai smirked, a distinctly unpleasant expression that caused the Fishman to pause, "Who ever said I learned it in East Blue?" he asked silkily.

Arlong _moved._

"_TEKKAI!_" Kai barked forearms snapping up in a cross motion to deflect the attack, he met Arlong's attack and held him, barefeet skidding back on the concrete as the dark haired male was pushed painfully backwards and then blasted off his feet and into the wall at the far end with a yelp of pain. Shit, he'd forgotten just how _strong_ Fishmen were! He broke the Tekkai.

"But still far from a Master," the Shark gloated only to grunt and twist his head as one of Zoro's blades clashed against his face.

"Allow me to break that ugly nose you love so dearly!" the swordsman growled angrily.

"DON'T INTERFERE!" Kai shouted shoving himself out of the broken remains of the wall, ignoring his forearm as blood trickled rapidly out of the ugly torn slash in his flesh. He didn't even notice it as he shifted his weight again, the sooner this was over with the sooner they could free Nami and he could get that Baka-Kenshin sewn up and tied down to the nearest bed! "_Soru!_"

The whole world narrowed to a thin pinprick of light as sound roared though his ears, his whole being focused on that one point, Arlong's _face!_

The Shark Fishman abruptly lunged forward, nose-blade plunging into Zoro's face as Kai overshot, and reappeared on the otherside of the two. One of the major flaws of the Soru Rokushiki technique was that you couldn't change direction once you'd set your sights on a point, you could stop but you couldn't alter direction.

_**Pain!**_

Kai grabbed his leg as it crumpled beneath him, his calf muscle suddenly cramping so viciously it stole his breath away. Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit! Not until he was finished! No, not until the fight was over, too dangerous to stop now! _Leviathan DAMNIT!_

"Zoro!" the green eyed male looked up at Usopp's yell, spotting the Fishman holding the swordsman up by his neck, blood dripping onto the ground below.

"Move and I'll snap his neck," Arlong warned glancing to the human who he was certain was someone or something entirely beyond the East Blue currents. He smirked and eyed the swordsman, "Done already? How boring," he rumbled in amusement he tilted his head ever so slightly, "By the way, what's up with this huge bandage? Did you fall somewhere or something?" he asked mockingly gripping at the sodden crimson wraps.

"Don't you fucking _touch those!_" Kai snarled his leg buckling as the cramp _visibly_ tightened on his leg.

Zoro snarled in wordless pain as the Shark Fishman tore the bandages off, flinching back slightly as blood threatened to splatter his face. Kai's face bleached white.

The stitches... the careful stitches to keep the wound closed... to keep the swordsman alive... they were open! They'd torn open!

Arlong looked horrified and severely disturbed.

"Hehe," Kai twitched as Zoro chuckled quietly, "If you take it easy, the wounds won't open," he rasped softly. Kai twitched, won't open! _Won't open! They were already open you thick headed moron!_

"That's all you have to say?" Arlong demanded his tone jagged with confusion and the faintest hints of wary fear. "You think you're funny, do you?"

Zoro just grinned ghoulishly, making Kai frown and think, "I didn't mean me. I meant the Octopus guy."

Hatchi! What! Kai looked around frantically, he couldn't see the Octopus Fishman anywhere! Was he in the water?

"What?" Arlong hissed.

"I told you," Zoro grunted, smirking as a reddish brown shadow slicked the water's surface, "We've won this game."

"Y_aaaaaaAAAAAA__**AAAHHHHHH! I'M BAAAAAACK!**_"

"Luffy!"

It was hard not to gape at the sight of the rubber boy flying through the sky as if he'd just become King of the Pirates or something.

"You're late, idiot," Zoro mumbled gruffly, eyeing his flying Captain.

"Oi, Zoro!" rubber arms stretched out and grabbed the swordsman's shoulders, a naughty grin stretching across the younger pirate's face. Kai felt his heart sink, he wasn't... was he? He _couldn't_ be! He knew _better!_ Oh shit, he _was_. Zoro was promptly wrenched skywards with a yell, "SWITCH!" the red clad male exclaimed gleefully, throwing his First mate over his shoulder and using the momentum to reverse his direction and go flying towards Arlong, sending Zoro skywards.

"BAKA!" Kai yelled wincing, if Zoro tore those stitches up any further he _**would**_ die! "_Soru!_" he yelled, his speed severely impaired via the cramps in his leg but as long as he caught the green haired male before he hit ground or sea, it was fine with him.

"**Gomu Gomu no KANE!**"

And thus, the fight began.

* * *

The party that raged across Kokoyashi lasted for three days.

Kai was thoroughly exhausted and he hadn't even taken part in the majority of the merry-making, at first it was helping the Doctor stitch Zoro up, then it was just a desire not to get groped by men and women he didn't know. Even if Kokoyashi Villagers hated pirates, they seemed entirely too friendly to the Strawhats or anyone connected to them. He was quite certain he'd seen Sanji being led into a house by a young woman once or twice, he saw a girl _try_ to convince Luffy to join her but he was much more interested in eating eight times his body weight in meat joints. Usopp was quite happy stood atop the mountain of tables singing very poorly about his exploits while Zoro was quietly hidden in the mouth of an alleyway drinking eight times _his_ bodyweight in alcohol.

Kai figured he should probably stop him but then it _was_ a party. And the alcohol might deaden the pain of that slash.

By the time dawn was creeping across the horizon of the third day, painting it in shades of pale green and yellow gold, he had somehow changed from sleeping _beside_ Zoro to sleeping on him – more specifically his shoulder. Not that the swordsman seemed to mind because at some point he'd taken to using Kai's head as a pillow as well. Sanji was out cold opposite them, leaning against the wall and Luffy was leaning against Kai's legs and using his knee as a pillow, Kai's hand somehow finding its way into the young Captain's hair while they all slept.

It was all rather.... unsettling, Kai decided as he delicately and carefully removed his fingers from Luffy's scalp – his hair was surprisingly soft and thin – and manoeuvred himself from Zoro's shoulder, gently pushing the swordsman back into an upright sitting position so he wouldn't fall over and then shifting Luffy off of his knee and escaping the alley way.

Dawn was nearing and people were beginning to stir ever so slightly, the dark haired male sighed and stretched languidly, massaging his leg thoughtfully. After the fight the good Doctor had given him some muscle relaxant to stave off the cramps, or at least make sure they weren't so bad, while he was stitching up the slash Arlong gave his arm, but they were still damn painful. A sign of his growing weakness.

Kai huffed unhappily punching the air thoughtfully, feeling the muscles in his arm flex and clench and stretch, the wind on his skin, the shifting of his knuckle bones as his grip tightened. Acute awareness of his body had saved him before and it probably would again. When had he gotten so sloppy? He hadn't even noticed until now, until he was throwing out some of his heavier moves, damnit, East Blue had made him soft.

"It's you," a gruff male voice commented, Kai glanced over his shoulder and offered a smile by way of greeting.

"Good morning, Gen-san. You alright there? You drank quite a bit last night," he reminded the older man. Gen-san just grumbled and gestured for the young Pirate to join him as they made their way down to the harbour.

"You'll be staying with them when they go to the Grand Line, won't you?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah. Someone's got to make sure they don't get in over their heads," Kai admitted equally as quietly as they stepped over sprawled figures on the ground.

"You'll keep her safe, won't you?" Gen-san suddenly asked, "I've already asked _Mugiwara_ but – "

Kai smiled, "But even though he defeated Arlong, you don't think he'll be able to handle the Monsters in the Grand Line. Right?"

Gen sighed and nodded, "Yes, I know I should be grateful and trust in him but... Nami... Na-chan, she – "

"She's your daughter," Gen spluttered at Kai's blunt statement making the long haired male laugh, "Not biologically of course, but, you're the father she chose in her heart. You're precious to her just as she is to you. You want to make sure she'll succeed, that she'll survive and that she'll be happy. That's what every father wants for their little girl. So I promise Gen-san. I'll keep her safe," Kai smirked at him, "Besides, she'll be the only other sane person on the ship, like hell I'm going to let the only other being with common sense get hurt. I might catch Stupid in her absence."

Gen-san promptly burst out laughing and slapped Kai on the back, "They do seem rather reckless," he admitted between guffaws.

Kai chuckled, "You have no idea," if Luffy was anything like Shanks told him, then he foresaw a _whooooole_ lot of trouble on the horizon.

The two exchanged glances and chuckled quietly as they reached the Merry just as the sun finally crested the horizon and bathed the world in light. The town should be waking up by now, in all their hungover and ravenously hungry glory, Kai would eat later, he wanted to make sure everything was ready to set sail before Luffy and the others showed up and began to clutter the deck with the supplies the villagers were so kindly donating.

By the time mid morning rolled around Zoro was loading the last of the supplies onto the ship and there was _still_ no sign of Nami.

Yosaku and Johnny gave their goodbyes – with Yosaku making rather pleading eyes at Kai to come with them instead of with the Strawhats, the long haired male just arched an eyebrow and folded his arms making Yosaku pout.

"W-wait! What about Nami-san?" Sanji yelped waving his cigarette around frantically. No way did he want to be stuck on this ship with a bunch of ugly guys – Kai being the creepy unacceptable exception to the '_ugly_' part, which he wasn't sure was worse or better.

Zoro frowned, "I thought she wasn't coming," he admitted.

Sanji spluttered, "WHY NOT!" he shook a fist and loomed at the swordsman, "You said something rude to her again didn't you!" he demanded.

"Why would I do that?" Zoro deadpanned in vague irritation.

Kai shook his head and chuckled making his way towards the back of the ship, Nami was coming, but if he knew her as well as he thought he did, she would want to make a bit of a dramatic exit. Just for kicks.

Ah, there she was.

"START THE SHIP OUT!" the thief called before she started to charge down the hill towards the pier.

"Lower the Sail!" Luffy called.

Kai chuckled as he grabbed at the ropes and unfurled the mainsail, oh yeah, she was making a scene. Now, the question was, is she planning on stealing everyone's wallets or just getting on the ship? He was betting on stealing their wallets.

Kai blinked, watching as the young woman dodged through the crowds and started to laugh, he was right! She was stealing their wallets as she went!

The villagers watched in confusion as the girl launched herself from the pier and landed on the ship, there was a pause as Kai smothered his laughter and she lifted her shirt. Wallets, purses and pouches fell and littered the floor of the Going Merry before the astounded eyes of the Kokoyashi residents and the severely amused Strawhats.

Suddenly, everyone started panicking and checking their pockets as Nami kissed a 1000 Belli note and smirked at them, "Take care everyone!" she called slyly.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

Kai burst out laughing as the whole of Kokoyashi bellowed after their favourite thief.

"Oi, she hasn't changed a bit," Usopp complained his arms folded and looking distinctly unimpressed while Zoro was scowling and grinding his teeth.

"Who knows when she'll turn on us again," he grumbled.

"Nami-san GOOD!" Sanji called while Luffy and Kai just roared with laughter and Kokoyashi shouted after them.

"Good Bye Everyone! I'm off now!" Nami called waving her arms happily while the rest of the crew moved off to go and put the supplies away off the main deck, letting her say her goodbyes.

Next stop, Loguetown.

* * *

30,000,000 Belli.

Kai huffed, blowing a strand of hair from his eyes. 30,000,000 Belli.

They... really weren't taking any chances.

No doubt the Higher Ups who decided that Bounty were at least _somewhat_ aware of just how dangerous Luffy would be if allowed to flourish, and dangerous he would be, especially for them.

D's changed the world.

It.... Kai had no idea what it was. Just that it was akin to a force of nature.

30,000,000 Belli. Wow.

The Pirate flipped onto his hands from his place balanced on the railings of the Crow's nest, this was taking things to a whole new level, this was... 30,000,000 was the highest Bounty seen in East Blue – _ever_. Higher even than Roger's before he hit the Grand Line, then again, Roger didn't exactly have far to go to reach the Grand Line when he began his days of piracy. Reverse Mountain was half a day from Loguetown.

Kai sighed and lifted one arm, balancing on just his left hand. He tried not to be just a little jealous, his first bounty had only been 25K.

They needed to leave East Blue soon before Luffy became a well known face, a Bounty that high would take time to circulate but not much time. Chances were that by the time they hit Loguetown Smoker would already be aware of Luffy, if not completely familiar with his face. He always was a rather intense man; Kai shivered slightly recalling his own near capture by the Logia user. For once, Kai thanked the Four Gods that he had escaped that unscathed; he didn't like the idea of being packed off to a lab in Marine Ford.

But 30,000,000 Belli... that was quite the headprice for a Rookie. Higher than Krieg AND Arlong.

There were going to be hitting Loguetown next... The place where Kai got his first bounty.

He would just have to be incredibly careful, hide his face, they may not have been able to get a good picture of him for his Bounty Poster way back when but Smoker got a _good_ look at his face right before he nearly smashed it in with the fucking _Kairoseki_ tipped Jutte of his.

_Kairoseki_.... FUCK, LUFFY!

The dark haired pirate vaulted from the crow's nest, he needed to warn the others! Smoker was in a league of his own when it came to Pirate hunting, his instincts were incredible and couple that with his fucking Sea Stone weapon and Logia Fruit powers and Luffy was boned if they ever went head to head. And they _would_, because Luffy was an idiot.

"EVERYONE! GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE!" he called impatiently.

"What is it, Kai?" Usopp asked shaking his hand free of Tabasco sauce.

"What do you want now, _Wana_?" Sanji demanded sneering slightly, Kai refrained from punching him.

"I need to tell you guys something," he explained gesturing for them to sit down and then promptly kicking Zoro awake. "Look, we'll be reaching Loguetown soon so I need to tell you this now. At the moment the Marines have one of their best Captains there sniffing out pirates. And he's good, _damn_ good. Smoker has the power of a Logia Devil Fruit, the natural enemy of Paramacia Devil Fruit users like Luffy. Add to that, he runs around with a weapon tipped in Kairoseki which neutralises Devil Fruit powers, the whole division there has nets and weapons tipped and threaded with the stuff to handle Pirates. So we need to be _damn_ careful," he explained rubbing at his eyes, "I have contacts, friends, I can get us the majority of the supplies we'll need for the Grand Line in roughly about an hour, maybe two, it depends on how much Shiima and Kit give me the run around. But Sanji will still need to get food, Zoro still needs his new swords and no doubt Usopp would like extra gunpowder and some other ingredients for his Shot pellets. I can't handle those, so you guys'll have to. Either way, we shouldn't park in the harbour, there's a rocky inlet on the east side with a natural buffer between the bay and the town so we should be safe and unseen. But either way, just to warn you. The Marines here know what they're doing, if you see Smoker make a run for it, or you _will_ get caught."

"How do you know all this?" Usopp asked sweating bullets at the thought of running into this Smoker character, he was obviously going to go straight for the Great Captain Usopp!

"I've been here before," Kai admitted, "Back when I first arrived in East Blue. Smoker almost caught me, it was a hell of a time trying to evade him but I managed it. He'll have no doubt improved since then," he muttered unhappily.

Nami hummed equally displeased, "Well... we can't _not_ go," she pointed out nodding to Luffy who was practically already bouncing around with stars in his eyes.

Of course Luffy would be excited about a guy who could probably kill him.

Kai nodded, "Exactly, hence why I'm telling you guys this now. Someone should be with Luffy at all times, he's got the highest Bounty and the most easily identifiable Wanted Poster, chances are, he'll be the one they go for first. But I doubt anyone would be able to keep up with him once he starts running around," he sighed and sat down beside Usopp, nearly on him, "It would be easier if we just locked Luffy in the Storeroom but there's no way that would keep him out of the Town," he admitted, eyeing the young Pirate accusingly, Luffy didn't notice.

"You know a lot about Devil Fruit users, don't you?" Zoro asked, "What's a Paramacia and a Logia?"

Kai hummed bumping his knee against Usopp's thoughtfully, "Well, there are three types of Devil Fruit. Zoan, Paramacia and Logia. Luffy has a Paramacia, they bestow superhuman abilities onto the consumer, like turning them into rubber or... allowing them to turn their legs into springs and bounce around like a fucking squirrel on a sugar rush, things that enhance the human body basically. Logia, which is the same as Smoker, are much rarer, they give you power over an element, turn you into it essentially. The three Marine Admirals are Logia users, there are a few Pirates here and there with the ability and oddly enough Shiima's granddaughter, Kit, is a Logia user. When you train up a Logia power enough, physical attacks can't harm you, they just pass through because your body is in a permanently intangible state. Smoker hasn't yet achieved that level yet, I hope. His power is, ironically, over smoke. You'll recognise him easy enough, big guy, blue-grey hair, always wears a white jacket with cigars strapped to it, he smokes 'em about two at a time. He's a good guy, nice, but he hates Pirates with a passion," Kai scrubbed at his hair.

"And Zoan users?" Usopp prompted.

"Ah, sorry. Zoan users are those with the power of an animal, they can turn into the creature properly or into some kind of hybrid creature. The Zoan types are considered the best for Close Quarters Combat because of how limitless their potential is, they will _always_ get stronger if they train, their bodies don't have a point where they stop getting stronger or faster," Kai continued his mind flicking back over the faces of those he knew with that power – surprisingly few.

"How do you know so much anyway?" Sanji demanded a perplexed frown on his face – Kai sounded an awful lot like the Old Fart when he spoke like that.

He shrugged, "You'll find lots of Devil Fruit users in the Grand Line," he pointed out, "you'd be surprised at what you can hear if you just listen."

"I see it! Land! Loguetown!" Luffy yowled, bouncing past them.

"And let the chaos begin," Kai muttered rubbing his forehead as a migraine throbbed uncomfortably.

Usopp patted him on the shoulder.

* * *

**Fin.**

Wana translates to 'Trap'. An appropriate nickname for Kai I think. XDD

**Minamicon was the stuff of AWESOME this weekend. All the pictures are on my Facebook along with a few other ones I was able to get off other people. I did cosplay, I went as a Kimono girl on Friday, Aerith on Saturday, Kai for Sunday Morning and Luffy for Sunday afternoon. We did have a massive One Piece skit – all we were missing were Brook, Franky and Chopper, we even had the Going Merry! The Nico Robin and Roronoa Zoro cosplayers turned their car into the Going Merry, complete with sails and crows-nest. We even had a girl cosplay as the Merry's figure head – I borrowed a Chopper plushie from Steve in the Dealer's room for her to hold and we all climbed on the car.**

**I have yet to find the pictures of me, Usopp and Crocodile jumping on the car while Zoro drives off. I will find them though!**

**Yes we had a Crocodile, and a Vivi. XDD**

**It was good. Though I make for a rather chunky Luffy. Let's just say he ate yeah? XDDD**

**((I even have a crack picture of Zoro using a sewing machine and Crocodile eating pizza.))**


	6. Chapter 6

**IGNITION**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

* * *

Loguetown was just as busy and lively as he remembered.

Kai sighed mournfully as he stared around the city, in another reality he was probably living here, just another average joe, a face in the crowd. An honest man who had been rescued by crooks. Somehow he doubted if Smoker would have allowed him to remain in Loguetown if he ever discovered that little titbit, and he severely doubted he would have been able to tolerate the kind of humdrum peace that a normal civilian-average-joe lifestyle would have given him. He would have gone Postal within a week and torn up the Marine Base. Perhaps it was all for the best then, he never would have met this Idiot crew if he hadn't left. Glancing over his shoulder, Kai couldn't help but chuckle at the discussion – and Luffy leaving without listening to a word of it.

A quick glance around the harbour proved that Luffy's new Bounty _**hadn't **_reached this far yet, it should be safe for him to wonder off alone if that was the case, as long as he didn't let his mouth run away with himself. Kai grabbed him by the arm and pointed towards the centre of town, "Execution platform is straight up there, don't turn off," he told the exuberant teenager who nodded and grinned before running off, "Meet us back at the ship before sundown!" he bellowed after his Captain.

Really, how on earth did he end up becoming a Strawhat again?

Tugging his headscarf a bit further over his face he looked to the others, "The Market is over there Sanji. They've got good food from almost all the Blues in there, get enough for three months, we don't know where in the Grand Line we're going to land first and more than a few islands are uninhabited," he explained, pointing towards his left, the blond cook instantly grinned and bounded off. "Usopp, Nami, there's a lot of stores in this area, just be careful. A lot of people try to capitalise on the whole Grand Line and Gol D. Roger thing, if someone tries to sell you something they say was on the Grand Line or used by Roger, don't buy it. No one in this town would separate with that kind of stuff and if it were genuine the Marines would have confiscated it," he explained, looking specifically at Usopp, no doubt Nami was already aware of the way sleazy merchants worked, the Syrup Village native was probably a lot more naïve. "Don't get too much, I'm going to be grabbing the essential gear and some other stuff to make our journey easier. Shiima should still have my weapons in her lock-up so I won't be buying anything like that. Zoro, there's quite a few Weapon stores in this area but the best would probably be Ippon-Matsu-san's, he's got a few rare swords but they're expensive. Watch yourself in there because if he thinks he's got a shot, he'll try to take that sword from you. A Meitou is worth roughly 50,000,000 Belli and that blade probably more so."

Zoro's hand gripped Kuina's sword tight enough for his knuckles to bleach white, no way was he parting with this blade.

Kai nodded and jerked a thumb in the direction of Matsu-san's store, "Go. I'll meet you all back at the ship later when I've got the stuff. The less I show my face around here the safer we'll all be," he added shooting a look over his shoulder as a pair of Marines marched past; he gave the crew a lazy wave and sauntered off towards a back alley ignoring the looks of confusion on Nami and Usopp's faces.

Shiima's little store wasn't too far away, she'd built it not far from a small residential district so unless you knew exactly where it was, you weren't going to find it.

Kai sauntered through the streets, smiling a little at how lively everything was around him, a small breeze pulling his headscarf off, teasing at his loose hair as he turned down a narrow street with washing lines over head and several bins left out ready to be taken away.

"Kit," he began with an amused snort, "quit playing with my hair already," the green eyed Pirate requested as the breeze died down and a young girl shimmered into view.

"Aw, you're no fun anymore," the thirteen year old complained puffing her cheeks out indignantly.

"Is Shiima-san in?" Kai asked rooting around in his pocket, if you wanted anything out of the young Logia user then you needed to be prepared to bribe her – just like with her grandmother – and he knew how much Kit loved sweets so he'd made sure to save some from Kokoyashi and hide them from Luffy. "Here, I picked these up for you, thought you might like 'em," he explained handing over the small bag of candied orange peel.

Kit's face lit up at the offer of sweets, "Yeah, she's in back," the young woman explained gesturing for him to follow her as she bounced off towards a flight of steps leading down to a rather ominous looking black painted door with moss growing in the cracks. Kai rolled his eyes, Shiima-san really liked to play up her old nickname from her Pirating days.

Shoving her shoulder against the wood, Kit heaved it open and practically danced into the dingy little store, "Baachan! Baachan! Guess who it is? You'll never guess! It's Kai the Clod!"

"Oi," the Pirate grunted frowning at the giggling teenager as she hopped onto the counter and crossed her legs cheerfully, already digging into her present.

A rustle of beads brought Kai's attention from the girl to her grandmother as she shuffled out of the backrooms, squinting at him with shrewd crow black eyes. "Oh it's you, what are you doing here, boy?" the old woman asked brushing past him to turn the '_open_' sign in the shop window to '_closed_'.

Kai chuckled, such a warm greeting, really, he could _feel_ the love.

Aburai Shiima was a small woman, hunched over and wrinkled with old age, tough as old boots and as cankerous as a pissed off cat. A former Pirate she was still a surprisingly strong woman, her eye sight was as powerful as it used to be when she was a Gunner. Born in the New World she had travelled _backwards_ through the Grand Line to Mariejois and then hiked along the Red Line until she and her crewmates hit a small village where they bought a fairly decent ship and sailed out into South Blue. From that point on she became known as the Sea Witch and obtained a fairly respectable bounty of 28,000,000 Belli. At some point in the last ten years, she came into custody of her only grandchild, Kit, and moved to Loguetown, opening up the shop they currently stood in.

Kit, in a sharp contrast to her Grandmother, had no desire to be a Pirate. She was quite happy raising hell in Loguetown and driving the Marines to grey hair and Liquor – it was her unspoken goal to get Smoker to retire ten years early from some stress related disorder, so far she was failing miserably. Dressed in a pair of khaki coloured hot-pants, a green croptop and a bright yellow scarf, she looked like any other rebellious teenager, short brown hair and large green eyes making her seem a little younger true, you wouldn't think she had the power of a rare Logia Fruit.

The shop itself was crammed with odds and ends, most of it useless junk, it seemed like your average antique store, if you didn't know what you were looking at. Shiima had some real _**beauties**_ hidden away amidst the crap.

"I need my weapons, gear and everything for a crew of six on the Grand Line," he listed making Kit choke on her candied oranges.

"Your _weapons!_" she squeaked, "You mean, you're going back?" she demanded her eyes practically bugging out of her skull. Namikaze Kai returning to the Grand Line after two years absence? Unthinkable! "I thought you were gunna look for clues to your lost memory?"

Kai shrugged, "I never found anything, apart from nightmares. Whatever I'm looking for isn't in East Blue and besides, this crew..." he trailed off biting his thumbnail under Shiima and Kit's gaze wondering how he should explain this, "they have... potential. I like them, they could go far, very far," he shrugged a shoulder and smiled at them, "besides, the swordsman has Niisama's respect, he all but ordered me to keep him alive."

Kit stuck her bottom lip out and jumped off the counter, "Fine!" she shouted at him stamping a foot and rushing into the backrooms, no doubt to her room. Kai rubbed the back of his head, oh dear, he'd forgotten that Kit had a crush on him – he was one of the very few people that survived escaping from Loguetown, and the few times he'd visited afterwards, Smoker never knew just how much of a regular visitor he was.

Shiima sat down in an old chair with a throaty sigh, "So, Leviathan's Child the Demon of the Sea returns to the Grand Line, hm?" she grunted eyeing him.

"Yeah," Kai admitted, he really hated that nickname but he supposed he earned it in a way. The massacre at Mock Town didn't help his '_I'm not a bloodthirsty demon_' case all that much – but really, that shitty Yak Pirate Crew honestly thought they could do that to him? And _get away with it?_ Please, he'd set Shanks on his Shitty Niisama for less.

She puffed on a pipe she'd pulled from Kai didn't _want_ to know where, "When are you leaving?"

"Loguetown tonight, East Blue tomorrow midday if everything works out," he explained perching on a café table. The old woman humphed.

"You know it never will," she reminded him.

"I live in hope," he retorted with a smirk and she laughed.

"Hope is for the foolish, boy. Your gear is in Lock up '_Hitomi_', go on now, clear off," she ordered waving her pipe in his general direction as he got to his feet and made his way to the back rooms.

This was where the real store was, Shiima not only kept Lock-ups for Pirates in the local area but she also sold it when said Pirate was killed or arrested – which was quite often. She had her ear to the ground and a spy network that stretched through almost all the Blues and deep into the Holy City and beyond.

Winding his way through the piles of assorted junk he found the Lockers against the far wall, _Akamori_, _Samuaki_, _Hitomi_, _Aotsuki_, _Ginryuu_, _Tekken_, _Sakura_, _Haruki_, there were many lockers. _Hitomi_ was the largest because he had left the most stuff here over the years, a large amount of money, all of his assorted weapons obtained within the Grand Line, a few changes of clothes he didn't want to be caught with – such as his robes and beads, his Navigation Bracelet, his journal and photoalbum, a few other knick knacks and gifts and last but not least, the odd pocket knife he had with him when he woke without memories. It was... odd to say the least, it could cut _anything_, open doors, he'd stabbed a Devil Fruit user with it once – a Logia type – and they'd screamed in pain. It was as if the blade was poisoned against Devil Fruit users or made of Kairoseki – despite being plain old metal, high quality metal that Mihawk had been extremely curious about, but metal none the less(1).

Tugging the length of holly wood from his hair he pointed it at the lock and frowned, "_Alohomora_," he intoned watching as the padlock clicked open for him – _Hitomi_ was his because it was the only one without a key as well as being the largest. Smiling, Kai set the twig back into his hair and removed the padlock, casually tossing it on an old scuffed table behind him and throwing open the doors.

"Your brother dropped by earlier," Kit's voice called across the room making him start and reach for the nearest weapon, "he dropped off a load of stuff for you. It's in the box at the bottom," the brunette told him as she stepped up beside him. "I'm sorry I shouted," she added looking morose.

"Its fine," Kai assured her reaching out and ruffling her hair before turning back to his lock up, eyeing the box his brother had left him. Which brother was the question but he had a feeling it was Mihawk. Which left a few possibilities about what it could be, useful things or pornography. You never knew with him.

"They're worth it then? This new crew of yours," the scantily clad teenager asked, watching as he fingered the box his older brother left him. "Only, you've sent people to us before, but you've never gone with them. What makes this lot so special?"

Kai hummed thoughtfully as he left the box for now and reaffixed his Navigation Bracelet – also known as a Log-Bracelet, his own invention – to his wrist and began to check his precious weapons over. "Their potential," he finally told her after a moment of deep thought. "There's only five of them right now, but the things they've done already... the shockwaves will eventually be felt throughout the entirety of East Blue," he explained looking at her from under his hair. Kit blinked in wordless confusion silently asking for an elaboration, "Freeing the island of Kokoyashi from the Arlong Pirates in one afternoon, grinding Don Krieg's face into a bloody smear, duelling with Shichibukai Mihawk and actually gaining some form of recognition – as well as surviving," he shook his head, a smile of amusement coupled with polite disbelief, "and these are just the ones I know about.

"Luffy... It's hard to explain but, if you meet them you'll see it. I really think Luffy has a good shot at becoming the Pirate King."

Kit stared at him.

Namikaze Kai was a cynic, one of those 'Glass Half Empty' types, to see him so excited so... hopeful wasn't quite the right word, it was more... faith, or belief in them. These people. This Crew. Her eyes widened as the situation hit home fully and completely, a truth that even Kai had apparently not even realised. His Nakama. Already they were his Nakama.

Kai blinked as the thirteen year old promptly whipped around and began to rummage through the racks of clothing, "You have five other crewmates aside from yourself right? What are their sizes? You're going to need some decent winter gear," she declared, yanking out a yellow and orange cheque duffle coat with a white fur lined hood.

"Thanks, Kit."

* * *

Getting the equipment and clothes was easy enough, carting it back to the boat would be just as easy, Kit had offered to airlift it back to the Going Merry so unless the Marines were getting their abnormally large knickers in a bunch they would get there safely. Haggling with Shiima over the price was the problem.

Shiima was a trader. She didn't accept money. And since Kai was leaving East Blue with a chance he wouldn't be returning, she wasn't accepting any favours offered either.

She wanted his Log Charms and the Log Pose that went with them. Kai didn't mind parting with the Log Pose – he could always buy another one off Crocus-san when they passed Twin Capes – but he was very attached to his Log Charms, it took him over a year to gather and make that many and they went to about 60-percent of all the inhabited islands on the first half of the Grand Line. Kai was extremely displeased that the old woman was attempting to con him out of all that hard work for just a few changes of clothes, some equipment and the use of a Lock Up for a few years. _Especially_ considering the amount of business he had pointed in her direction.

Shiima, however, wasn't budging. She wanted those Charms to create a number of Eternal Poses and then sell them to the Marines at almost criminally extortionate prices. Quite often the Marines, while having superior numbers, just didn't have the Navigational Know-How or the guts or the skills to traverse the _entirety_ of the Grand Line's first Half – including the Calm Belts – just to try and create their own Eternal Poses, they didn't even know how to make them. True, the higher ranked Marines were people to be fucking terrified of, but the higher ranked the Marine is, the more likely they will be kept close to the Holy Capitol or to the World Government H.Q. itself. They didn't have the time, nor the authorisation, to go gallivanting off around the Grand Line just to fill in the blank pieces of the map.

Kai was willing to bet his crew were entirely oblivious on the more important Navigational problems of the Grand Line.

Because of the Calm Belts that encircled the Grand Line, more than a few islands were completely cut off from the rest of the developing world, plants and animals evolved differently, even the minerals in the soil and rock changed, creating a magnetic field around each island. This in turn, made every single normal Compass go completely insane once in the waters of the Grand Line, regular compass needles would just spin, and spin, and spin, and spin in an endless cycle, never stopping, never pausing, just continuously in motion. Which was why Log Poses, and their much rarer counter part the Eternal Pose, were so valuable on the Grand Line. Log Poses were a small piece of Navigational Equipment, a small glass orb with a metal compass needle hanging on a thin thread suspended in the middle of the orb guided people around the Grand Line via the Magnetic Fields around each island. No one was quite sure how they worked, just that they locked onto a Magnetic Field and then reset themselves once you reached that island and pointed to the next one, the time between each reset for the Log Posed varies from Island to Island.

On some, like Hi no Kuni – the Land of Fire, a small reef of active volcanoes – it took a matter of three minutes to set, on others, like Little Garden – a Pre Historic island where dinosaurs still roamed – it took just over a year. Others could be at any point in the middle, no one was entirely sure.

Eternal Poses were essentially a Log Pose that had been permanently configured to a specific Magnetic Field, constantly pointing to a specific island.

Kai had figured out a way of cheating so to speak, he was quite frankly amazed that he was the only one to think of something like this but, as Mihawk once told him, sometimes all you needed was a fresh perspective to shake up the perpetual norm.

Each Island had a different magnetic field because each island had a unique mineral or metal that was integral to its composition; they resonated and created that magnetic field. Kai hit upon the idea of creating a kind of charm bracelet made of each unique metal or mineral from every island he'd been to, and then modifying his Log Pose so that he could slot those charms into the compass needle. Meaning that he had an interchangeable Eternal Pose for whatever Island he'd been to previously.

And Shiima wanted them.

To give to the _Marines._ Of _all_ people, she wanted to give them to the Marines.

In the end, Shiima got what she wanted but not all of it, Kai managed to keep hold of a few charms that neither of them wanted in the hands of the World Government, Jaya for one, Little Garden, Elbaf, Karakuri, Hannabal, Hitsuzen Island, the four Sacred isles – minus Partia because it was already known to the Marines, Akasango, Sunflower Island, Kuraigana Island – a small Kingdom that resisted any and all attempts at integration or control by the World Government – and a number of other ones, Pirate islands, some inhabited with small communities, others completely uninhabited or just holding ruins.

Sighing, he hefted up half his gear and began to make his way back to the Merry, Kit shooting off with a sack over her shoulder as she used her Devil Fruit power – the Fuku Fuku no Mi(2) – to get back to the ship before him. He hoped that Luffy was keeping out of trouble, Zoro too, those two... they had an unfortunate habit of attracting the worst kind of attention, not that Sanji or Nami were any better, Usopp still managed to retain a vast amount of self-preservation instinct and avoid such situations so he didn't think he had to worry so much about him.

The dark haired male had to shake his head and smirk, he was the oldest of the crew he supposed looking after the others was his responsibility – not that he wouldn't be dragging Zoro into it with him, as the second oldest he had his babysitter responsibilities too, mainly when Kai was going to end up killing someone due to their stupidity.

"Wonder which route we'll end up taking," he mused silently hoping that they would end up landing at Water 7 so he could go to Galley La and tell everyone he was alright and thank them for taking him in all those years ago.

His mind wandered to Kaku, was he alright? Was he still jumping around the roofs of the lower district like a flea on a hot griddle? Had he found himself that '_honey_' he used to lament over to settle down with yet?

Kai shook his head rapidly, ignoring the sting of heat that lingered in his cheeks, he was _not_ thinking about that, especially about Kaku. Not the time, and definitely not the place! He could ponder the status of his first crush another time, one when he wasn't surrounded by Marines and in (more) danger (than usual) of being carted off to Marine Headquarters for experimentation under Doctor Vegapunk. Though really, he didn't know if it would be Vegapunk, the man was the only doctor Kai knew of within the World Government who specialised in human experimentation just as much as he did in cybernetics. Mihawk had warned him that one of his fellow Shichibukai was undergoing treatment at Vegapunk's hands, treatment that was being enforced by the World Government.

Kai shuddered; human weapons were one thing, but an army of Bartholomew Kumas? His blood ran cold at the very thought. The Tyrant Kuma _**terrified**_ him beyond all rational thought, the first time he even saw the other Shichibukai he had been struck breathless with sheer fright from his hiding place and it had taken Mihawk ten minutes to coax him out once the other man had left. Even the swordsman had been a little disturbed by the sheer instinctive terror Kai had shown in reaction to the other Shichibukai – every instinct, every particle of Kai's being _**screamed**_ at him to flee, to run or to destroy, kill it before it killed him, end it end it _**now**_.

Let's not think about that.

Kai hefted the heavy pack on his shoulder as he managed to squeeze his way through the crowds at the Market on his way back to the ship. He could feel a change in air pressure tingling against his skin, the smell of rain in the air, even the difference in temperature, never mind the whispers. It was going to storm soon, a pretty big one, minimal lighting but plenty of heavy cold grey rain. Best to get this over with quickly, Kit hated flying in the rain and the sky was getting very dark and grim looking.

"_Kaaaaai!_" speak of the Devil and she shall appear.

"Kit, what is it?" he asked, pausing only slightly in his pace as the girl's torso swirled into visibility beside him, the large sack of things he'd asked her to carry slung over one shoulder.

"That Captain of yours, Luffy right?" she asked, Kai nodded suspiciously wondering just where she was going with this. "He's about to be executed on the Platform in Town Centre!"

"_**What?**_" Kai hissed, Kit wouldn't joke about that, about this. Kai threw his pack at her and raced off, launching himself skywards and landing on the nearest roof. She would take the gear to the Merry without argument – he'd get it in the neck when they were safe but for now she would follow the unspoken request. Taking precious seconds to orient himself, the dark haired male started running across the rooftops, skittering precariously across washing lines even as the sky suddenly blazed with white lightning and the Town centre exploded. Billows of black smoke visible through the sudden curtains of thick rain – the storm had finally broken across Loguetown.

What the hell could have happened since he left them? It had barely been three hours!

The dark haired male skidded to a halt on one of the rooftops overlooking the now ruined Execution Platform and Town Centre, sharp green eyes picking out the warring forms of the Buggy Pirates, the Marines and an unknown woman. He paled when the whole lot of them were engulfed in thick white smoke, the Captain was there, he couldn't see any sign of his crew mates... Thank Leviathan for small mercies.

Not paying the other pirates another thought, he turned and began to run back towards the ship – if they were going anywhere it would be back to the Merry now that their cover had been blown to all hell.

He could feel the rain dribbling through his hair, snaking down the back of his neck, sure feet streaked across the rooftops and jumped over walls and chimneys. All the while green eyes lingered on the streets below, blinking away the occasional rain drop, scouring the grey waterlogged ground for his Crewmates.

The mob of Marines observing a Duel between a dark haired woman and Zoro just made his task much easier.

Lightning flashed above, "I can never lose this katana. No matter what," Zoro told the woman, an unfamiliar black hilted blade stabbed into the wall to her right bare centimetres from her ear. He smirked and yanked the blade out, smoothly sheathing it along with the second one, he eyed the woman, carefully keeping any feeling he had for the duel hidden from her – people got shirty with him if he smiled, seemed to think he was getting arrogant or smug over his victory. "Bye, I gotta go," he announced before turning and beginning to walk away.

Apparently his attempt at manners wasn't good enough for the Marine Girl, "Why didn't you kill me!" she demanded stepping away from the wall, her hands fisted, "Is it because I'm a woman? Is that it?" she shouted at him. Kai's eyebrow shot into his hairline, was she really that ignorant? He also absently respected her self control, to still use Polite Language when that angry.

Zoro paused his shoulders tensing slightly.

"Even though '_a woman's arm is weaker than a man's_'... It's humiliating to have someone go easy on you in a duel!" she continued, "I doubt you'd understand what it's like wishing to have been born as a man... _I didn't pick up a sword to play around!_"

Kai dropped before Zoro could snap and make a fool of himself by saying something stupid. The dark haired male landing directly between the two of them and promptly punching the Marine woman across the jaw, knocking her casually into the wall.

"Kai!" Zoro yelped in alarm, hand on one of his swords out of sheer surprise at his arrival.

The dark haired male ignored him though, eyeing the Marine girl with disgust, he had been around Swordsmen and women for as long as he could remember, he was practically _raised_ with their ideals. This girl, this _child_, was everything he abhorred. Setsuna-shishou would cry at the sight of her and then set her on fire rather than allow one so pathetic to taint the world.

"Don't you _dare_ brush your weakness off as a product of your gender, idiot girl," he sneered at the Marine, her dark blue-black eyes staring at him in stunned confusion as she clutched her purpling jaw, "People like you... Piss me off the most," he told her darkly marching over and grabbing her by the collar of her clothing.

"Oi, Kai, calm down," Zoro placated or attempted to at least.

"Shut it, Roronoa. This girl... This weakling... She doesn't deserve the name of swordsman," he spat green eyes blazing.

"Don't say that about Ensign Tashigi, you Pirate Scum!" one of the Marines shouted at him, his face twisted in anger.

"You can shut up as well!" the dark haired male snapped before glaring into the Marine girl's eyes, eyes that widened suddenly in recognition, "You disgust me! You blame your gender, the fact that you're a woman, for being weaker than someone else? Get over yourself!" he snarled at her, shaking her slightly before roughly shoving her away, "I know women who could rip him apart," he stated jerking a thumb at Zoro, "I know women capable of things that your tiny puerile mind could never even comprehend, ask Smoker about Catarina Devon one of these days or Setsuna the Violet," he turned away from the woman in disgust as she slowly slid down the wall. "Grow up, if you don't like being weak, train like the rest of us and become stronger. Don't you dare, ever, _ever_, downplay another swordsman's strength or skill as simply a product of their gender or their parentage or even their weapon! It is disrespectful and fucking insulting to _anyone_ who has ever picked up a blade."

Tashigi's eyes were wide as she sat in the gutter staring at the woman in front of her, for a moment, when her throat was on the line, she could have sworn she was looking into the eyes of a Shichibukai. Such powerful murderous intent! Her blood was cold and her body wouldn't stop trembling.

Zoro gently pressed a hand on the smaller male's shoulder, slightly concerned about possibly having that temper turned on him, "I think you've made your point now," he told the other male quietly, looking down at the Marine who reminded him so painfully and vividly of Kuina that he couldn't meet her eyes and turned away. "Let's go."

"_Aa_," Kai agreed casting one last dark glance at the other woman before turning away, brushing Zoro's hand off. "Let's. The others are probably waiting for us anyway," he admitted.

Kit was going to have his balls for making her wait out in the rain.

Green eyes widened as the 20-year-old's whole body twitched, something in his mind tugging _sharply_, something had interrupted the storm. There was a break in the rain – right, _there!_

Green.

_Green light. _

_Green eyes._

_Cold laughter._

"_Not Harry! Please! Have mercy! Not my baby!"_

_Green scarves._

_Green scales._

"_Please! Not Harry!_"

_**Pain**_.

* * *

Kai groaned his eyes fluttering open, his head throbbing something fierce as he half sagged half stood beside Zoro, the swordsman's arm wrapped under his armpit to stop him from sliding back to the ground. They were at the Harbour, when had they gotten there?

"Wh-what happened?" he whispered even as his bleary vision spotted Luffy approaching fast – in mid-air. Oh crap.

The impact was hard.

It knocked all the air out of his lungs and nearly sent him back into the realms of unconsciousness, he was going to kick that rubber idiot's arse the minute it stopped feeling like his brain had been stuffed in a blender. They hit the sail of the Merry and dropped to the deck below, Kai knocking his head against Sanji's knee and landing on top of Usopp, the younger teen's nose only just missing his throat by an inch.

"That looked like it hurt."

"Shush yer face, Kit," the grumpy teenager growled as he shoved Zoro's thigh off of him and got to his feet, rubbing his head, "Sorry to suddenly throw my stuff at you and take off."

The girl waved a hand, "It was nothing, meeting Nami-neechan was fun and Uso-kun is pretty funny," she told him waving a hand and ignoring the considering look Sanji gave her and the one of curiosity from Zoro. "I should head back to Baachan's now, you take care of yourself Kai. If you don't... I'll hunt you down and do something.... something absolutely rude and unmentionable in public," she warned him while waggling a finger.

Kai smirked weakly and grabbed said finger, "I promise I won't die, Kitling," he swore.

She nodded seriously before yanking her bright canary yellow scarf off and throwing it at him, "Keep hold of that, I want it back so don't you dare lose it, and only you're allowed to bring it back so no fobbing it off on your Nakama," she told him seriously before her body seemed to fade and become static around the edges, "Ja ne."

"Haha! It feels like the ship's going to tip over!" Luffy yelled happily, practically prancing around the mast.

Kit giggled, "Good luck, you're going to need it," she told him with a wry grin as Luffy caught sight of her and promptly started sparkling in glee at the sight of the '_ghost_'.

Kai chuckled as the girl waved goodbye for what may possibly be the last time and then promptly vanished, swept away with the natural winds back towards Loguetown.

The dark haired male looked down at the soggy scarf in his grasp. Kit loved this thing, not as much as other things like her ridiculous ninja throwing stars but enough that she would beat the crap out of anyone that tried to damage it, steal it or stain it. Apparently it was a gift from her father before he ditched her and her mother a long time ago. A bright colour for such a bright girl, he had said. Sighing softly, he wrapped it around his neck, yellow wasn't really his colour but what the hell, it was a nice scarf.

"Let's have a Launching Ceremony to mark the importance of our journey," Sanji suddenly suggested, dragging Kai out of his thoughts.

He chuckled and added his agreements along with Nami, Usopp and Luffy.

The cook glanced around before spotting a barrel and dropping his heel onto it, "To find All Blue," he declared a gleam of excitement catching his eyes.

"To become the Pirate King!" Luffy announced grinning broadly, his foot joining Sanji's.

Zoro's grin was all teeth and malicious glee at the challenges to come, "To become the Greatest Swordsman!"

"To draw a Map of the World," Nami said her voice full of longing at the chance to finally fulfil that life long dream she had been forced to put on hold under Arlong's reign. That dream her mother had approved and encouraged her to fulfil. The dream that she kept hidden, locked away in her heart for so long she had almost given up hope.

Kai's smile was bittersweet, he was returning to the Grand Line and he didn't even really have a reason. Oh well, his dream was a little bit different, not nearly as grand as theirs.

He placed his foot on the barrel, "To find out who I was," he announced and smiled at Usopp as the younger male floundered for a moment before adding his foot to the barrel.

"To become a Brave Warrior of the Sea!" he finally shouted out.

The group stood like that for a moment, this was their declaration, their promise to the future, a symbol of their determination and dedication. From this moment on, their lives were on the line for their dream, their lives were for their dream.

Kai looked up, meeting each and every pair of eyes in front of him, and he smiled. There was no regret, no hesitation, in their gaze.

"LET'S GO TO THE GRAND LINE!" Luffy yelled.

"AYE!" They all cheered, feet lifting up and smashing down on the barrel.

_To take you there and bring you home again_.

* * *

Kai didn't sleep very well. His dreams severely disturbed, nightmares of green and red. Apparently he had been thrashing and screaming in gibberish, no one made any mention of him crying but he knew he had been. Luffy and Zoro had slept through it all, Sanji had actually been the one to wake him and calm him down from the nightmares, Usopp watching them from his bunk with large frightened eyes, looking years younger than he really was. Sanji had stayed with him until he'd fallen back to sleep.

The next morning he overslept, missing breakfast. His head ached, his eyes were sore and puffy from crying, his throat felt scummy and the throbbing in his skull was making his ears ache. In all, he felt positively rotten.

So he'd retreated to the back of the ship, hidden behind Nami's Mikan trees to check over his weapons and investigate that box Mihawk had left him.

He could only thank all the gods that he had ever heard of that he hadn't opened this in front of the others.

His left eye twitched.

His fucking shitty asshole donkey rapist of an illegitimate okama bitch whore brother had left him, of all things, women's clothing and titty rags.

And he couldn't foist the clothes off on Nami either because they were tailored to his size – Mihawk was going to get a fucking Falcon Punch to the bollocks next time Kai saw him. (What was a Falcon Punch anyway? He wondered before shrugging, whatever it was, it sounded like the appropriate course of action he would take against his brother.) Sanji could have the magazines.

The amnesiac rubbed at his throbbing head as he picked up the corset – it was nice he guessed, a red and black one with gold cherry blossom patterns embroidered onto it and delicate black lace with suspender straps as well – and set it aside along with a red lace veil, as least he thought it was a veil, there was a large black cloak as well. Kai's eyebrow moved into his hairline, it was a damn nice cloak expensive as well. It was slightly thick and it had some weight to it, made out of soft black fabric with very careful stitching and a large deep hood, the inside of it being made of out a dark green, almost a dirty mineral green colour. He put that in a separate pile to the corset and veil before his fingers hit upon the false bottom of the box, that cunning bastard, that teasing smirking bastard.

Lifting out the false bottom the grin that split Kai's face could only be described as '_Unholy Glee_'.

"Sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes Niisama... I can believe that you are one of the coolest sons of bitches this side of the Red Line," he muttered to the air around him as he lifted out the various pieces and pipes and objects that would be the beginnings of his new Armoury – not that he really needed a new one but Mihawk had missed his last two birthdays so he was definitely making up for the absence.

"Ooh, Dials," he muttered green eyes widening happily, he didn't bother wondering just how Mihawk managed to get more than one of them. He would probably just smirk and say something about sexual favours with angels, Kai didn't believe him for a moment. Mihawk probably found someone who'd been to a Sky Island and _convinced_ them to part with their hard earned Dials.

There were sadly very few of them, and a few of them were too small to have any kind of combat use but the simple fact that his brother had gotten his hands on a Dial in the so called Blue Sea was amazing.

"Breath, Lamp, Vision and – hoh? What's.... No...." the smile on his face changed as his eyes practically lit up as he lifted the last Dial out of his treasure box. It was about the size of his clenched fist, a pale bluish mother of pearl colour with a wide lazy spiral shell, "_Water Dial_, Niisama, you are fucking _epic!_"

Pressing on the spiral he was half prepared for the liquid that suddenly burst from the mouth of the shell, what he wasn't expecting was for the liquid to _not_ be water. It was oddly warm and oily in texture, frowning slightly, he sniffed his fingers before paling and glaring at the Dial.

"I take it back, you're an utter bastard," he growled out before wiping the deep heat lubricant off his fingers via the red lace veil.

* * *

Somewhere in the New World, Mihawk sneezed rather violently in a bar before smirking as Shanks roared with laughter.

* * *

"**Gomu Gomu no Amidori!**" glancing around the corner, Kai's eyebrow moved into his hairline as he saw Luffy's arm stretch out to grab at something amidst a flock of hungry seagulls a good quarter of a mile off side.

"Wooo! Nice Stretching!" Usopp called from the crow's nest.

Sighing slightly Kai began to pack his belongings away, tossing the Water Dial he had been so excited over along with them. He could make his Armoury later.

"What's going on?" he asked making his way over to the others after shoving the box into the kitchen on his way over, then he saw the little girl in the yellow dress. "Who the hell is this?" he asked weakly gesturing at the child. She couldn't have been any older than ten, maybe eleven.

"Don't know, Luffy pulled her in. We think she may have been shipwrecked," Nami explained shrugging a shoulder.

Kai sighed, "Shipwrecked or not we need to get her out of those clothes before she catches a cold," he pointed out before scooping the child up, his head was still throbbing and his face felt mucky but there were more important things going on here. Moving into the kitchen, Kai quickly set about ordering Nami to go and get some of her clothes to dress the child in, Usopp to go and hang her wet ones out so they could dry and Sanji to make something warm but light, they didn't know how long she'd been shipwrecked so anything heavy would just make her throw up. Zoro and Luffy just watched in open curiosity as the dark haired male went about stripping the little girl – snapping at them to turn around or leave the room as he did so, fucking perverts – and drying her off, muttering distractedly when he felt how cold her skin was, and then redressing her in Nami's T-shirt and a pair of her shorts.

The afternoon passed quietly, the others doing whatever it was they wanted (Sanji was flirting at Nami, Nami reading her maps, Luffy was trying to get Sanji to give him more food, Zoro was sleeping and Usopp was making more Tabasco Sauce bullets) while Kai sat with the girl, he'd unbraided her hair and brushed it before rebraiding it again, eyeing her necklace briefly before pushing it out of his mind.

"Kai," Nami began, making him look up curiously, "You said earlier, you wanted to find out who you '_were_'. What did you mean?" she asked him.

Kai shrugged a shoulder, "I have amnesia. Can't remember anything since I woke up four years ago on a beach all alone," he admitted, "I originally came to East Blue hoping to find some clues but," he shrugged, "apparently it wasn't mean to be. Maybe I'll have more luck on the Grand Line this time around."

"This time around?" Sanji asked curiously.

Kai nodded, smiling mischievously, "_Hai_. I spent two years in the Grand Line with my older brother before coming to East Blue. It's where I was found," he finally admitted.

The looks on their faces were well worth the wait.

The older male chuckled before getting to his feet, "Back in a bit, need the loo," he announced breezily before sauntering outside. He managed to make it to the bathroom before he burst out laughing. Sorting himself out he washed his hands and then headed back to the kitchen, his eyebrow arching as he saw the little girl up and about, and looking rather alarmed at something or other.

"Oh, you're up," he greeted stepping into the room and smiling at her, "Nice to see you're alright."

"I think she's broken," Luffy announced.

The girl didn't even twitch.

* * *

(1) **Kai's knife: **Yeah, its the one Sirius gave him. I know he didn't bring it with him during the Second Task BUT let's just say he had a brief burst of common sense and brought it with him just in case he got tangled up in the weeds.

(2)** Fuku Fuku no Mi – Blow Blow Fruit:** Logia Type, power over Wind. Kit has a damn powerful Devil Fruit power but being a 13 year old, she's more interested in causing chaos than being a pain in the backside for the Marines. Smoker treats her with a kind of amused tolerance – the same kind one would have for a bratty little sister.

Akamori – Red Forest

Samuaki – Cold Autumn

Hitomi – Beautiful Eyes

Aotsuki – Blue Moon

Ginryuu – Silver Dragon

Tekken – Iron Fist

Sakura – Cherry Blossom

Haruki – Shining Brightly


	7. Chapter 7

**IGNITION**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**

* * *

**

"_Total control... I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats..."_

"_They left half of themselves behind,"_

"_Your Lordship is still determined, then?"_

"_I – I – I is not doing it, sir! I is not knowing how, sir!"_

"_... half the Triwizard champions have died ... how long d'you reckon you're going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet."_

"_Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who was Muggle-born – you know, non-magic parents. There are some wizards – like Malfoy's family – who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pure-blood."_

"_MIND THAT TREE!"_

"_Professor Lockhart requested you particularly. Eight o'clock sharp, both of you."_

"_This boy needs rest, he's got thirty-three bones to regrow! Out! OUT!"_

"_A _parselmouth! _You can talk to snakes!"_

"_Wait till everyone finds out you've got a _tail_!"_

"_My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friend of Hagrid."_

"_You sold Lily and James to Voldemort. Do you deny it?"_

"_The Heir of Slytherin left another message. Right underneath the first one. _Her skeleton will lie in the chamber for ever._"_

"_So ends the famous Harry Potter, alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry... she bought you twelve years of borrowed time... but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must."_

"_Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"_

"_Not Harry! Please... have mercy... have mercy..."_

_Green light. Laughing. Red. The smell of lilies._

"Expecto Patronum!"

* * *

Kai woke the next morning curled up against Zoro, his head felt hot and several times too big, his eyes were sore and aching, he was even feeling a little nauseous, his hands hurt as well, so did his shoulders. And why was he practically being crushed against Zoro's chest?

He tried to wriggle his way free but the green haired male's arms tightened painfully around him, good grief, who knew Roronoa Zoro was a snuggler?

Usopp would later tell him that he had been hurting himself in his sleep and nothing they did could wake him, so Zoro just crawled in with him and prevented him from moving. Sanji and Usopp were giving him dodgy looks now, ones of pity and sadness, Kai bristled every time he saw those looks, absently wondering just what he did in his sleep that could promote such looks from his crewmates. They were treating him like glass, he wasn't even allowed to help out with the usual morning duties – not that he had many, usually Sanji would be cooking while he helped Usopp with the rigging, the others had tacked on pretty quickly that Kai was pretty much fearless with heights.

As such, he decided to just deal with it and go clean out the waste from the bathroom – because of the fact that you needed to draw up water from the ocean and filter it for baths, they mostly didn't bother with drawing water for the toilet. Ergo, every morning, it needed emptying.

The explosion from the kitchen nearly had him falling into it though. Not very nice.

And the food looked just as appetising as the toilet to be honest.

He ate it anyway. It was painfully spicy but it was food, he wasn't going to turn his nose up at it even if there was more than enough to go around, though he didn't really understand everyone's massive reactions to it, it wasn't _that_ bad tasting.

He had to laugh at Luffy's comment of liking it though.

* * *

It took him a while to recognise what the feeling was. That curiously flat and static sensation tickling at the edges of his senses, a mix of hot and cold, of complete airlessness.

Kai felt the blood drain from his face, "We need to change course! Now!" he shouted over to Nami running towards the kitchen to change the position of the rudder, "We're heading into the Calm Belt!"

"What! Damnit!" the ginger haired girl cursed not bothering to question how he knew, "Usopp, Sanji change the sails to head South-West 35-Degrees!" she commanded running to join Kai in the kitchen. "At this angle with the wind as it is – I don't think we're going to make it," she told him grimly.

Kai nodded glancing at Apis through the open door before scowling, they might be able to handle a Sea King on a good day, but she couldn't.

"We'll just have to make it then, won't we?" he grunted before shifting and gesturing for Nami to take control of the rudder before moving to the front of the ship.

He was about to break one of his biggest Vows by doing this... but fuck the Rules, Leviathan help him there was a _child_ on board! He wasn't going to let her die!

"EVERYONE! HOLD TIGHT TO SOMETHING BECAUSE WE'RE ABOUT TO HAVE A SUDDEN CHANGE IN COURSE!" he bellowed over his shoulder before spreading his legs and breathing deeply. He used to find this difficult, reaching within himself to that wellspring of light, but it was like coming home after a long day now, it willingly rose to his command, he wasn't dragging it out inch by inch under Setsuna's sharp knowing gaze. He was going to be nursing one hell of a hangover later but they couldn't afford a run in with Sea Kings right now, there were so many variants in the Calm Belt that he couldn't guarantee being able to deal with all of them and if a fight broke out Apis would be in danger.

"What's he doing?" Apis demanded from Luffy's side.

"Dunno," the pirate replied with probably more honesty than was comfortable as Kai suddenly threw an arm out, fingers together, palm flat and lifted it in a wide arc, and, to the astonishment of those watching, the ocean rose up as well. Catching the Merry's side and forcibly changing her direction as the dark haired male swept his arms across his chest in a lazy graceful motion that the water followed until they were going in exactly South-West 35-Degrees.

Silence.

"AWESOOOOME!" Luffy shrilled, sparkling as he practically pounced on Kai.

"How did you do that!" Nami demanded her burgundy eyes wide as she ran over to the two black haired boys', Kai practically being crushed by Luffy who was rubbing his cheek adoringly against the older male's head. "_What_ did you do!"

Kai was too busy trying to wrestle Luffy off of him to answer, his skin was an interesting white-grey colour and his eyes were a little dull, finally he spread an arm out, clenched his fist and whipped it around, Luffy's whole body suddenly going lax and weak even as the burst of water knocked him into the railings.

"Must be a Devil Fruit power," Usopp decided staring at the pale teenager as Luffy groaned and got back to his feet, looking woozy.

"No," Kai refuted straightening his clothes, his voice a little rough, "I've never eaten a Devil Fruit. And there is no Devil Fruit power capable of controlling the Ocean or even water(1) for that matter. The very nature of water and the Devil Fruits repel each other, it's why Devil Fruit eaters can't swim and lose all their power when submerged," he explained and then nodded at Luffy, "And why they lose strength if they touch me while I'm using my power," he added.

"Did you know about this?" Sanji asked, looking at Zoro when he caught the completely unsurprised expression on his face.

"Yes," the swordsman admitted bluntly.

"I asked him to keep it under wraps until I trusted you more," Kai explained dragging the heat off of Zoro, "The World Government is hunting me for this power, or at least one facet of it. I've been keeping myself under wraps, never using anything truly dangerous, so far they believe my only ability is to speak and tame Sea Kings."

Apis gasped, "You mean, you can talk to animals too!" she squeaked eyes large.

Kai nodded, "Only reptiles though, for some reason I can't understand anything else," he explained. The look on Apis's face was one of unbridled adoration and awe, Kai blushed slightly and scratched the side of his nose, "Ah, weren't we heading to Gunkan Island?" he asked quickly turning attention away from himself.

"Yosh!" Luffy shouted happily slinging an arm over Kai's shoulders, completely uncaring of the fact that his Nakama could completely debilitate him with a touch. "Full Sail to Gunkan Island!"

* * *

Gunkan Island, Warship Island, Kai had only ever seen in at a distance but he'd never thought it to be so... _huge_.

The dark haired male paused as they sailed closer, a frown flickering onto his face, there was something odd about the water here... the energy that he could sometimes manipulate, the energy he felt within himself... it was particularly thick in this area. Under the water... coating the ocean floor.

A coral bed, perhaps? Or something else?

"Oi, you alright?" Kai blinked and looked over at Zoro, the swordsman was eyeing him with an eyebrow raised, Kai nodded.

"I'm fine. The water here... it's hard to explain, but it seems different," he tried to explain before shrugging a shoulder, "Not harmful though," he assured before moving to throw down the step ladder, then promptly ignoring it and jumping to the floor, straightening to eye the Farmers with their pitchforks and torches.

Quaint.

"Yo, I'm back!" Apis called from the railings, it took a great deal of self control not to laugh at the stupefied looks on the Civilians' faces.

"Apis?"

Kai chuckled as she forwent the ladder and jumped down as well, landing in his arms before being released back onto the ground.

"Why were... you on a Pirate ship?" one man asked looking as though he wanted to hug her but was scared to do so for some reason or another, Kai's eyebrow arched, he wondered why everyone was keeping their distance from the little girl. "What's going on here?"

"Hey," Luffy began making Kai blink and look over his shoulder, "you there... Is there a Yakiniku store on this island?"

"Huh?" was the collective response from the men.

Kai started to laugh.

* * *

Kai grumbled unhappily, Bokuden-san just wouldn't shut up, Luffy had wondered off mumbling about Butaman and Nami had slipped out after him.

What was it with old people and either being undeniably nosy, annoying or cantankerous?

He sighed and lay down, deciding to use Zoro as a pillow – since he was there and everything, the swordsman didn't even notice or stir in his sleep.

* * *

Kai wasn't sure what to make of this.

It _looked_ somewhat familiar, as if he'd seen something akin to it before, déjà-vu of a sort, but at the same time... it was just... wrong. Very wrong.

Sennenryuu... Nami had brought them to the lair of a real Sennenryuu. A Thousand Dragon. _Apparently._

Stepping forward, the dark haired male ran a hand through the thick dark green-grey feathers that covered his body, they felt familiar, kind of like that massive carnivorous bird he'd killed when he and Mihawk stopped off at Little Garden for a few days.

Kai's eyes widened, that was it!

This... this wasn't a _real_ Dragon(2). It was some kind of prehistoric creature, a variant of the feathered reptiles that flew through the air. He didn't tell any of the crew though, Apis was so certain that she had found a _real live _dragon that to be told otherwise would actually break her heart. Kai kept his mouth shut and silently wondered if the little girl even knew about the Azure Dragon, the Leviathan.

Still.

The Captain said they were helping this thing find '_Lost Island_' so that's what they were going to do. The rumbled thank you Kai could hear from the creature's throat, too low for human ears to make out just made him nod and smile at the large creature. At least it had more manners than its Little Garden Cousins.

Contemplating using his power to speed things along, he opted against it he took a breath and lashed a foot through the nearest tree, deciding to join Luffy, Zoro and Sanji in tree harvesting for their cart. By the end of it, they had too many logs and not enough rope.

"Y'know, whatever power it is you've got, Devil or Angel, it's pretty damn useful," Usopp admitted as Kai used the stick in his hair and conjured more ropes for him to use in creating the raft. They didn't have enough time to go back to the ship and get more.

Kai just laughed, "It's pretty useless to be honest. I prefer doing things the old fashioned way but we need this doing quickly. The ropes will unravel and dissolve within three days, or y'know, they might decide to animate and try to bite your fingers off. It's hard to tell, my power is the definition of unpredictable," the green eyed male explained, bracing a foot against one of the logs and yanking on one of the ropes before tying it as tightly as he could. "Not to mention I can't do anything big with it, the more I use it the more sick I become. This stick lessens the strain but it still puts me out for a period of time."

Usopp shrugged, "Still, it's pretty cool."

"You and the Marines seem to think so," Kai told him with a chuckle as Apis and Luffy started jumping up and down on their cart gleefully.

"This should be perfect for Ryuuji to ride on!" Apis crowed happily.

"For sure!" Luffy agreed stamping his foot to check the durability of the craft.

"But... the Marines are still anchored in the harbour. What about our ship?" Sanji asked looking a little guilty about dampening the little girl's excitement.

"Something will happen," Luffy stated carelessly.

"No, it won't," the Cook refuted quietly.

"We can fight them," Zoro pointed out from where he was stood slightly behind Kai, Sanji grinned at this suggestion.

"That suits me just fine."

Kai sighed as they began to hatch a plan, he had a feeling he knew what Nami was planning, Usopp joining in was a bit of a surprise, but the fact he wanted Zoro along with him, and to go during the night, wasn't much of a surprise. The former Grand Liner could only chuckle at the fervour happening around him, it looked as though he would be sticking with Ryuuji and Apis just in case they missed their mark and landed in the Ocean. He should have expected this, Nami was already factoring his abilities into her calculations and how to best use them, at least she was giving him the option about it – kind of.

No, not really.

* * *

Erik the Whirlwind was a gigantic gaping asshole.

They have his picture next to gigantic gaping asshole in the dictionary.

What?

* * *

"Now what was the name of that Shield thing I did that one time?" Kai pondered thoughtfully as he watched Luffy and Sanji face off against the Marines and the lavender haired burk himself. "_Portine... protine... _there was a _go_ in there somewhere I'm sure of it," he continued nonchalantly as Sanji and Luffy decimated the Marines.

Apis just stared at them in stupification, the two guys were beating the Marines into pulp and the pretty girl-who-actually-was-a-guy was just stood there pondering the name of a shield as if they weren't fighting for their lives.

"**Kama Kama no** _shu shu shu shu_ **Tsumujikaze!**"

"Ah yes, got it," he declared smacking a fist into his open palm with a smile before whipping that pale stick out and jabbing it forward, "_Protego,_" he commanded, a shimmering orange shield encompassing over Luffy and Sanji. Whatever attack it was that the Asshole had been directing to them smashing against it and disappearing.

"AWESOME!" Luffy howled gleefully.

"_Impossible!_" Erik spluttered in horror as the shield simply faded out of existence, Kai smirking all the while as he absently waved at him, ignoring the throbbing in his head.

"_Ohaiyo Asshole-Sama,_" he chirped childishly grinning toothily at the lavender haired mercenary as he carefully hid how using that spell affected him.

"My winds are as sharp as a Meitou! There's no way you could have blocked them!" he howled furiously, Kai just smirked and sat back on Ryuuji's cart, crossing his legs cheerfully.

"They may be sharp, but there's no power to them. To be expected though, it's not hard to find Devil Fruit users capable of cutting, but providing the force of a Rokushiki technique? Not likely," he pointed out with a smirk, "So, care to try your luck again?"

Erik turned red.

"THEY'RE ALL SET! WE'RE LEAVING, SANJI-KUN, LUFFY!" Nami called scooping Apis up and climbing onto the cart, Sanji cheered as the two of them charged up the hill towards the cart.

Kai chuckled as the two launched the cart down the hill straight past the mercenary, Luffy's fists shattering every rock out of the way while Sanji and Ryuuji prevented anything from striking them. Pretty soon, the whole group were laughing and cheering as they shot down the mountain and straight out into the ocean below, crashing into the mast of a Marine Battleship.

"Kai!" Nami yelled panic lacing her tone as they looked to be nose-diving into the water.

"Hai, hai, someone better catch me when I collapse," the dark haired male muttered lifting his arms and sweeping his arms up, the ocean bulging beneath them, spinning his arms slowly in a circle the ocean smoothed out lazily beneath them, catching the cart and gently sliding it into a horizontal position. Minus any stress to the passengers.

Calling at the other male to help him tie the cart to the Merry, Usopp paled when he caught sight of the dark haired male white faced and unconscious on the wood, one arm trailing in the water. Bringing the older male onto the ship, they set him against the Mast carefully while Luffy crowed enthusiastically about finding an island with no information on it, no idea where it was or even where to look.

* * *

Kai sighed as he gently checked Zoro's skull, honestly, he too was beginning to see a pattern concerning the swordsman and Luffy – mostly consisting of Luffy grabbing him and yanking him somewhere while he was in the middle of something. Zoro had unfortunately smacked his head into Merry's mast upon landing, drawing concerns about concussions, it was all Kai could do not to mutter in disbelief at how durable idiots were. Zoro was fine – aside from his pride – which was more than Kai could say about his own head when the swordsman landed on him (They had left him sleeping on the ship while they explored the unknown island, Zoro woke him up via landing on top of him, the asshole).

Well, that trip was a waste of time, now they were returning to Gunkan Island.

But first... they had to get through the chain blockade and pass-by the Admiral Wanna-Be Nelson Royale.

Fatass, he honestly actually thought he was anywhere near on par with an Admiral? How arrogant. True, his tactical skills had gotten him far, but as far as Admiral? That was a fucking insult to the current Three and all the forces under their direct command. Why they had not yet put that repulsive fat troll in his place, Kai did not know.

But he was going to do it for them in any case.

"Ne Zoro, can you cut steel yet?" he asked the swordsman who growled and looked distinctly unhappy.

"No, not yet, that skill is beyond me as is, I need more training(3)," he admitted.

Kai nodded, "Alright, we'll train once this is over. I could do with some practice," he offered before kicking open the hatch to the men's bedroom and dropping down, shoving his toy box open Kai grabbed the nearest weapon to him, a scythe. Grabbing the last section of the staff he climbed back out onto the deck and screwed them together, ignoring the open look of astonishment from Apis and Usopp as he checked the weight of the weapon and spun it before smiling and resting the weapon against his shoulder.

"I thought you used whips," Zoro commented curiously eyeing the scythe with the gaze of someone who knew good weapons when he saw them. The Scythe was simple, the staff was a good metre and a half long, attaching the blade to the staff was a ridge of decorative metal, simplistic and spiked rather like a large bat's wing done in red, the blade itself was good quality metal with a curved edge free of staining, dents or knicks, Kai took good care of it.

"I can cut with whips, but I don't have the physical strength anymore to split metal with them, I need something bladed. I could use a sword, but my Meitou is still in storage and needs some maintenance before I put it to cutting metal so I'd have to borrow yours. I doubt you would have parted with any of them so I decided to grab something from my Toy Box," the twenty-year-old explained with a nod to the swords at his hip. Zoro had to admit, he wouldn't have been happy about handing over one of his swords but he probably would have in the end.

"**Gomu Gomu no Hashiwatashi!**"

Following Zoro and Sanji running along Luffy's outstretched arm, the three of them landed on the Marine ship and quickly got to work, Sanji and Kai ignoring Luffy's entrance and the subsequent attack on Zoro.

"So, can you cut them?" Luffy asked eyeing the thick chains as Kai nudged them with a foot.

"Yup," he announced easily spinning his Scythe absently before raking it across the chain, slicing cleanly through the metal. Zoro's face scrunched a little in jealousy.

Then the doors opened and the Marines flooded out. Oddly enough they were all armed with swords, not a pistol amongst them, perhaps news of Luffy's bulletproof body had finally reached the ears of those in the front lines? Probably not, they must be on budget shortages for flintlock pistols, swords did tend to last longer and use up fewer resources if taken care of properly.

"Looks like they're all here," Sanji sneered nose wrinkling.

"I'll take the right half," Luffy announced cheerfully.

"Whatever," Zoro grunted.

Kai chuckled and took a breath, snapping out with his scythe and cleaving through the second chain set, he didn't stand and wait around afterwards, spinning his scythe up he smashed a Marine overboard and then brought it down on the third and last sets of chains. Slicing through the thick metal with ease, just as Luffy sent the last remaining Marines overboard – through the railings.

"Done," Kai announced turning to his Crewmates, but they were too busy staring off at something. At Ryuuji and Erik – who held Apis by the back of her dress as they sailed away from the Merry. Kai gritted his teeth but he didn't move, though, like Luffy, he would have enjoyed nothing more than slicing the bastard to pieces. Doing so would just get Apis hurt though.

All they could do was watch as events unfolded in front of them.

* * *

The Ocean was beginning to shake and Kai's awareness of the world changed, he stiffened and stared out towards Gunkan Island, "Something's coming," he said, "Rising out of the Ocean, the water is receding!"

"We should pull back to the Merry," Zoro announced, Kai nodded, glancing briefly up to the younger Sennenryuu as they circled above, it was like they could sense the changing tides as well. "Oi, Sanji, Kai, hurry up," turning, Kai jogged after Zoro, joining him and Sanji in the row boat they borrowed from the Marines.

The Island was rising, the water was dropping and that source of energy he could sense under the waves was becoming more and more powerful. It wasn't coral he could sense, he could tell properly now, it was death, it was the remains of many, many creatures, remains and... and... life? Climbing back onto the ship, he sat down on deck feeling a little strange, he didn't even react when Luffy landed back on the Merry nor when he heard an unfamiliar squeal of surprise and slight pain. The shaking was getting worse, whatever was rising up, the island that was rising up, it was coming up fast, it was just under the surface.

The low and high frequency screams from the reptiles above weren't helping him much, they were rejoicing about their nest surfacing, lamenting at their Elder's death but rejoicing at his rebirth as well. Kai just wished they could do it all quietly, his head was beginning to ache along with his stomach.

* * *

This bastard was really starting to annoy him.

Kai glared irritably at the lavender haired Mercenary, "Luffy, make sure he won't be getting up again any time soon," he told his Captain sneering at the other man, he knew Luffy would claim this fight as his own.

Watching was still fun, especially when he sent that Okama-bastard flying away, maybe if he was lucky he might land on the Kamabakka Island. With hair and nails like that, they'd take him under their fabulously manicured wings without hesitation.

* * *

In all, it was a nice conclusion to their adventure, Apis was safe with her family and had decided to protect her Island and pass on her knowledge of the Sennenryuu so that her children and her children's children and their children after them could protect the dragons the next time they migrated to Gunkan Island. Erik should be running for his life or having his hair styled on Kamabakka. Zoro was bugging him to see the inside of his Toy Box in his own way, which mostly consisted of asking him what weapons he had, how many he had and then eyeing the box curiously before questioning him again. He never outright asked him to open it up and until he did, Kai was just going to sit there and enjoy the sight of him getting all worked up over it.

They were heading back towards that violent storm that hovered over Reverse Mountain, it seemed to have shifted slightly away from Loguetown and now raged over their entry point into the Grand Line. Amba, you're a bastard.

Kai chuckled at Nami's confusion, "Calm down, there's a Canal that runs up the mountain because of the force of the current we can ride the ship all the way to the top. From there, there's a down turning current straight into Twin Capes, the entry point to the Grand Line," he explained to the Navigator.

"So it's a mysterious mountain, eh?" Luffy asked happily. Kai chuckled.

"Yes Luffy, very mysterious."

* * *

Reverse Mountain was just as dangerous as he remembered, at least he wasn't on Mihawk's tiny ass boat anymore, which had been annoying. And more than a little terrifying.

"You bastards!" the group looked around in surprise at the semi-familiar voice.

"WON'T YOU JUST DIE ALREADY!" Kai shouted as Erik showed up again, balanced precariously on the railings of the Merry. He didn't even give the bastard a chance to move or launch an attack before he was kicking him roughly off the ship and into the violent current beneath them. "Sink and drown already, fucking waste of oxygen," he growled poisonously.

Nami giggled, "Great! Since he's a hammer, he won't be bothering us anymore~! Well done Kai!"

Usopp grinned, "Even if he _could_ swim, this currant's just way too choppy!" the group laughed gleefully while Kai just huffed and folded his arms.

"Ooh! We've reached the Clouds!" Luffy yelled as the temperature dropped rapidly and their visions were suddenly blanketed with white, and wet. Kai was so grabbing a nice hot bath once they'd finished dealing with Crocus-jiji.

He shivered smiling at the glittering sky, Diamond Dust, frozen water in the very air, it was gorgeous and Reverse Mountain was the only place where he had ever seen it. He wondered how Crocus was, he hoped the old man was alright, Laboon was a force of nature in his own right and he was hurting badly, the time may come when he accidentally hurt Crocus in his senseless anger against the Mountain.

Merry flew into the air and crashed down into the water of the down turned current, practically flying down the side of the Mountain towards the Grand Line. Kai laughed happily, enjoying the feeling of the wind in his hair, running to the side he climbed the rigging, getting into the crow's nest just as they hit the clouds, water soaking their skin and clothes, making his hair damp and stick to his skin.

It felt like home.

And he laughed. Even though he had no name, had no _real_ home, this place still felt like it. The Grand Line felt like he was coming home again.

He could even hear Laboon below them.

"Nami-san! I see a mountain up ahead!" Sanji called snapping Kai out of his enjoyment, mountain? In front of the Current? There weren't any mountains in the area aside from Reverse Mountain itself.

"A mountain! There can't be!" Nami responded glancing over her shoulder at the cook who clung to the rigging behind her.

"But I see it right there!"

"Who cares! Let's GO!" Luffy cheered waving an arm through the clouds.

"After the Twin Capes there should be nothing but Ocean!" Nami shouted in disbelieving confusion. Then it hit him.

"It's Laboon! He's a West Blue Island Whale! He lives at Twin Capes but he'd never stood in front of the current to my knowledge! He knows _**better!**_" Kai shouted down to her concern lining every one of his features, what had set the whale off? As far as he knew Laboon had never stood in front of the Capes and bellowed to the sky, to the side of it yes, but never in front. Crocus would be severely annoyed with him for destroying any Pirate ships trying to come into the Grand Line.

"Laboon! Kai you knew about this!" Nami shouted.

"I knew about Laboon! But he's never tried blocking the way into the Grand Line before! Something must have set him off!" he returned.

"W-w-w-w-w-what do we do!" Usopp wailed in terror.

"Fight it?" Luffy suggested.

"IDIOT! We can't fight something like that!" Nami shrieked.

"T-t-t-the currant's taking us right at it!" Usopp yelled, "What do we doooooooo?"

"Wait! We've gotten this close to it and it still looks like a wall! So where's its eye!" Sanji shouted in confusion, Kai was tempted to throw something at him, WHO CARED WHERE HIS EYE WAS!

Realisation lit Nami's face, "That's right! It may not have noticed us yet!"

"At this rate we'll hit it straight on..." Zoro growled, gripping Wado Ichimonji. He couldn't do anything here, he was useless, his blade couldn't slice through something that _huge_.

"_LABOON! LABOON YOU HAVE TO MOVE! PLEASE! LABOON!_" Kai shouted out to the whale, leaning over the side of the crow's nest, hands cupped to his mouth.

"It's not working!" Nami shouted.

"Oi! There's an opening on the left!" Zoro suddenly shouted pointing towards the lighthouse.

"_LABOON!_"

"PORT! HARD TO PORT!" the swordsman continued to yell.

"The helm's broken!" Usopp replied. Kai gritted his teeth, Laboon couldn't hear him, not over the sound of the water and his own bellowing, the dark haired male jumped out of the crow's nest and joined the other three in trying to move the helm, the more muscle the better.

"It won't _tuuuuurn!_" Usopp groaned through gritted teeth, pulling as hard as he physically could on the broken helm, the rest of them straining in turn, Kai could feel splinters pressing into his fingers, Christ they stung, he'd get Crocus to clean them up later but –

**K-BOOOM! **

The ship jerked and they all tumbled forward and then rolled backwards in a heap as the sound of breaking and splintering wood hit their ears followed by something heavy hitting the deck.

"AHHHHH MY SPECIAL SEAT!"

Kai just stared at the ceiling, his head resting on Zoro's knee, his arm pinned by Usopp's back and Sanji's leg across his chest. They just lay there for a moment before slowly getting up and then running out on deck.

Laboon hadn't even flinched, he hadn't felt a damn thing.

"Damn you..." Kai looked up in alarm from where he had been rowing along with Zoro, "My favourite seat... WHAT THE HELL DID YOU BREAK IT FOR!" Luffy bellowed in fury, arm stretching out and _punching Laboon in the eye!_

Kai just blinked, well, that would get his attention more than the punch did – the yelling that is. Now that Laboon was quiet he would more than likely hear them.

* * *

If you wanted to survive on the Grand Line, there were a number of essential rules you needed to know to make it.

Rule number 8 on the Grand Line: Expect the unexpected.

Even so, Kai knew these rules – heck he even had one made for him (rule 86: If it looks to good to be true – it's probably a Trap, he kicked Sayo-chan in the head when she came up with that one) – but he never even considered the idea of Laboon _swallowing_ them.

Still, it made for an interesting introduction to Crocus. Kai kept quiet hidden behind the others, hand pressed over his mouth to stifle his laughter as Crocus wound them up, it was something of an initiation to the Grand Line, the aged Doctor took great glee in getting these Rookie Pirates all flustered over the littlest of things. After all, Rule 9 was: Have a sense of humour. Those without that sense of humour usually attacked him, and, old man or no, Crocus killed them.

Laboon's tantrum wasn't entirely unexpected.

Luffy's arrival was though.

Fishing the three of them out, Laboon finally calmed down, Crocus must have sedated him again.

Eyeing the pair, he had to visibly refrain from gaping when he finally connected the name to the face, what the hell was a Princess doing in the belly of a whale armed with a Cannon Bazooka of all things!

"Are you two Scoundrels still here?" Crocus shouted sounding as pissed off as Kai had ever heard him, "Don't make me repeat myself!" he snarled, "As long as I am alive, you won't lay one finger on Laboon!"

Princess Vivi giggled maliciously, a very unsettling sound coming from the throat of a young woman who was considered such a kind and precious treasure by her people in Arabasta. "You may say that, but we cannot retreat!" she announced coolly.

"Killing this whale is our mission," the man added the two of them getting to their feet, bazookas in hand. Kai's eyes narrowed, they were trying to kill Laboon? That most certainly did _not_ sound a thing like the woman that had been described to him. "We won't let you interfere with our Whaling anymore! We'll rip a hole in his stomach! Let it rip baby!"

"Roger!"

Kai yelled grabbing the nozzles of the bazookas, but it was too late, the cannons were already flying through the air even as he crushed the barrels and ripped them from the pair's hands, throwing them overboard.

"Jiji!" he shouted, seeing the old man running to intercept the cannons, he would take them himself, he could handle the explosions better than the inner walls of Laboon's stomach. Kai was already jumping into the water before they'd even hit, whether he could take the blows or not didn't matter, he was still going to be injured in the blast. Swimming to the old man's side he fluttered anxiously, "Crocus-jiisan, you alright?" he asked wrapping an arm around the man's bruised frame and beginning to paddle them back towards his metal bottomed boat.

"Never thought I'd see you again, Kai," he admitted quietly as they crawled up onto the grass, "Interesting crew you have."

The twenty-year-old smiled slightly, "Yeah, never thought I'd come back but... they insisted. Something about becoming the Pirate King," he explained winking at the old man who blinked and stared at him.

"You think..." he trailed off as the rest of the boy's crew began to approach just as Kai got him settled in his favourite deck chair.

"Yeah, I'm fairly certain actually," he admitted with a smile, sitting on the arm of the chair. All Crocus could do was smile and pat the boy's leg, he'd grown since the last time he saw the little runt. He'd learned to have a little faith.

* * *

Kai kept his peace throughout Laboon's story, he'd heard it before the first time he and Mihawk had visited the Cape – they'd hoped that Crocus would know who he was, the old man never forgot a name or a face so if Kai had come in via Reverse Mountain then the Doctor would most likely remember who he was or who he came in with. When he didn't know, they assumed that Kai had been with the Marines and sailed across on one of their new Sea Stone ships or born somewhere within the Grand Line.

He had, of course, like Crocus, looked into the Rumbar Pirates that abandoned Laboon, but apart from discovering that one half died from a Plague and the other half vanished while on their way from Water 7 to Fisherman's Island, he had found nothing. They ended up disappearing into the Florian Triangle which bordered onto the Calm Belt, there was a chance that they drifted through and tried to escape the Grand Line via the Calm Belt.

Luffy ripping the main mast off their ship and attacking Laboon with it made him choke and splutter. WHAT THE HELL WAS HE DOING! Kai watched as the pair fought before he realised just what was going on, he was giving Laboon a reason to wait, a reason that wasn't so hopeless as the whale currently had. A rivalry.

Though to be honest, Kai sniggered, he'd seen five-year-old do better finger paintings.

* * *

**(1) Water and Devil Fruits:** Devil fruits are said to be cursed and thus the ocean doesn't accept Devil Fruit eaters, hence why they become hammers. This applies to all water sources. So no Devil Fruit power can ever control water because they reject one another. The woman from Clockwork Island One Piece film is a plothole in of itself. Plus, the films aren't Canon so they don't count.

**(2) Ryuuji not being a dragon:** This is to stitch up the Thriller Bark plothole where Zoro claims that he doesn't believe in Dragons. How can he say that when he's come face to face with one in East Blue? I know it's filler but the Apis Arc ties in with another Filler arc that I am determined to crowbar into this. So it's important. Besides, Ryuuji looks nothing like the Harry Potter dragons, hence why Kai's mind disregarded him and conjured up the image of the feathered dinosaur instead. Not to mention his other experience with a so-called Dragon.

**(3) Zoro cutting metal:** Another plothole that needed sewing up. In the anime he claims he can '_cut anything_' and proceeds to slice through the metal chains, officially he only learns to cut metal at the end of the Arabasta Arc when facing Mr 1 – Daz Bones. It's a major levelling up point for Zoro, hence why I had Kai do the metal cutting in this one, to sew up the plothole and also keep Zoro's skill development in line with the canon.

* * *

**AND NOW, THROUGH POPULAR DEMAND – the scenes that never made it into the story. Mostly in chat format as they were hashed out between myself and my ever lovely Beta Stalker of Stories.**

**

* * *

**

**Mihawk:** (eyeing Harry) I see you're still not a man yet.

**Harry:** O/O THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS YOU SHITTY OLD PERVERT!

* * *

**Kai:** ...wait... you only survived a week in the Grand Line! (to Don Krieg) Suddenly I'm extremely pissed off and embarrassed that you and those idiots managed to destroy the ship I was on.

**Mihawk:** _they_ defeated you? You are still a little bird.

**Kai:** SHUT UP SHITTY OLD GEEZER!

**Mihawk:** You have not kept up with your training Little Bird. Perhaps you require a refresher?

**Kai:** NOT EVERYONE IN EAST BLUE IS AS POWERFUL AS YOU ARE! REFRESHER IS NOT NECISSARY!

* * *

**Hachi:** You're a guest Mr Swordsman?

**Zoro:** ...yes. Yes and my friend here. (nods to Harry)

**Harry:** Good morning Merman-san.

**Hachi:** Good morning onna-san.

**Harry:** Oo;; n-n

**Zoro**: (steps on his foot) As you see I have a lady with me, think you could give us a lift big guy? It's a bit far for her to walk back to our ship.

**Harry:** (violent twitch) Er, y-yes. I-it was such a distance getting here. (laugh) Sorry to be such a burden.

**Hachi**: It's fine. Arlong likes girls. I'll give you a ride.

**Zoro**: Thanks.

**Harry**: (whispered to Zoro) _I'm going to emasculate you later_)

**Zoro:** I can think of plenty of more fun things

**Harry:** Never took you for a pervert Roronoa. Just remember that Mihawk said I had to keep you alive, be said nothing about crippled.

**Zoro**: depends on how you cripple me, though I think I might give you a limp

**Harry**: Pfft, you wish.

**Zoro**: I'm a lucky kind of guy; my wishes tend to come true

**Harry**: (scoff) Futue te ipsum et caballum tuum. Jackass. (translates to, screw you and the horse you rode in on)

**Zoro**: Does that mean I'm lucky today?

**Harry**: It means Lady Luck is currently wearing a hockey mask and armed with a chainsaw, Roronoa.

**Harry**: ...means no.

**Zoro**: Damn. Maybe tomorrow then.

**Harry**: Hmm. Doubtful.

**Z****oro**: But as you said, fate is fickle (grins)

**Harry**: But somethings are set in stone. Fate's a bitch, and just when you think the old bitch is finally dead, you go and find out she's had fucking puppies.

**Hachi**: (is very confused by all this) You getting in the pot or not?

**Harry**: Ah, yes, thank you! (strained smile)(climbs in)

**Hachi**: (mutters to self) crazy human onna-san

**Harry**: (TWITCH)

**Zoro**: (snickers)

**Harry**: Roronoa, right now I am the only person in the crew who knows how to sew you idiots up. Don't make me amputate something you will miss. (smilesmile)

**Zoro**: (is, at this point, uncertain if it's an idle threat) You wouldn't

**Harry**: (idle smirk) There IS a reason why I have a 25,000,000 belli bounty on my head, Zoro. (sunny smile)

* * *

**Mihawk**: ...? (eyes Harry)

**Harry**: ?

**Mihawk**: (smirk) I see you've finally become a man.

**Harry**: O/O SHITTY OLD BASTARD! (starts throwing icicles at him)

**Mihawk**: So. whom was it?

**Harry**: I am not having this conversation you shitty old bastard.

**Mihawk**: I doubt it was the one with the nose. But you have strange standards, you have a bad habit of not studying peoples appearances. Possibly the Captain, you are the type to expect someone to take care of themselves.

**Harry**: WOULD YOU SHUT UP! (ANGRY!BLUSH)

**Mihawk**: Shanks will be wanting to know of this -ghek!

**Harry**: (throttling Mihawk)

* * *

**Shanks**: What? Kai became a man? He was a man before, wasn't he?

**Mihawk**: ...

**Shanks**: ...

**Mihawk**: ...

**Shanks**: ... You pervert.

**Mihawk**: X3

* * *

**Luffy**: (all worked up and going off to fight someone)

**Harry**: Luffy.

**Luffy**: ?

**Harry**: ... go for the balls. They always seemed really surprised when you do that.

**Men**: (go slightly blue) That's because they don't expect another man to do it.

**Harry**: Pfft, like I haven't seen Luffy give someone a knee to the Grandkids before.

* * *

**Ben**: ==; why are all my crew mates idiots?

**Shanks**: 'cause we're AWESOME idiots 8DD ... and no one else will listen to me...

**Ben**: (facepalm)

* * *

**Nami**: (INSANELY SHORT SKIRT)

**Kai**: Um, Nami-chan, don't you think you should wear some shorts or something?

**Nami**: What? Why?

**Kai**: 'cause any pervert can just lean sideways and look up! Your skirt is way too short. (folds arms and scowls) And then there would be bloodshed because there's no fuckin' way I'm letting someone get away with that kind of behaviour. And blood is a bitch to get out of clothes.

* * *

**Mihawk**: You've gotten weak little brother.

**Kai**: Oh shit. I'm fucked aren't I?

**Mihawk**: I don't do incest. (Kicks him into the baratie)

**Kai**: (coughs up blood) I wasn't suggesting it you shitty bastard. XP

* * *

**Luffy**: Ne, ne, Mihawk told me to make you a man! 8DDD

**Kai**: OO;;;; Er.

**Luffy**: Here! I got lots of meat! Meat makes you a man right?

**Kai**: (relieved beyond all measure) Uh... no, no I don't think so. X3;;

**Luffy**: ? But it's MEAT (is nomming it)

**Kai**: (thinking) _he was thinking about a different kind of meat... can't tell Luffy there's another kind or he'll go apeshit... He'll want to try it and that will lead to Very. Bad. Things._)

**Nami**: (dying of laughter)

**Zoro**: (Sniggering into his sword polish)

**Usopp**: (coughchokegiggle)

* * *

**Kai**: ...I hate you Nami. I hate you and your face. I curse upon your House. May all your bacon burn.

* * *

**And fin. Hope you enjoyed the scenes that never made it into the story. ;DD**


	8. Chapter 8

**IGNITION**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

Making sure everyone kept their heads, kept on course and making sure Nami was fully aware of their circumstances in regards to Navigation and the weather was more of a task than Kai thought it would be. Mr Nine and '_Miss Wednesday_' did nothing but stare at him in surprise until Nami kicked them out to go and help Sanji shovel snow. Eventually Kai just rolled his eyes and reached for that energy inside of himself, sweeping all the snow from the deck in one smooth hand motion – nearly knocking Zoro off deck as well, he didn't even wake up though.

He said nothing to the Princess, in fact, he refused to even look at her. He was good at sniffing out deception – despite being absolutely crap at _being_ deceptive, there was something off about her but at the same time, he just couldn't put a finger on it. She was either faking and damn good at it, or not faking it but being a fucking weirdo.

That aside. He was actually fairly excited to be honest, Whiskey Peak was one of the few islands in the Grand Line he'd never been to, Mihawk by passed it saying that there was nothing of importance on there save for a poor town with even poorer inhabitants.

So far the journey had been fairly alright, Nami kept her eyes on the Log Pose and steered them where they should have been going, Kai went out on deck to prevent some of the more violent waves from destroying their ship while Luffy, Sanji and Usopp ran around at Nami's order. Zoro snored in the corner.

At the reactions of everyone around him, all he could do was laugh and say: '_Home, sweet home_'.

* * *

There was something inherently suspicious about Whiskey Peak now that they were in it.

Something that made him glance at Zoro with a raised eyebrow and receive a nod in return, so he wasn't the only one who found this overly warm welcome suspicious.

It didn't stop the green haired male from knocking back alcohol like it was going out of style though. Kai could only huff and smile as he leaned against the wall, watching his Crewmates enjoy their first success in the Grand Line. Quite a few Rookies died in that first stretch, unused to the changing weather, the violent storms between magnetic fields and their lack of Log Poses often meant they wondered the ocean until they died or drifted into the Calm Belts. Crocus-jiji only helped Pirates he liked after all.

Having been Gol D. Roger's former Ship's Doctor, he knew treasure from trash when he saw it.

"Are you not enjoying the party, Miss?" it took a supreme exertion of will power not to punch the Mayor in the face, glancing to him from over the rim of his glass Kai shrugged. Ah well, everyone was going to mistake him for a woman, getting angry over it was getting a bit old to be honest – plus it couldn't have been good for his blood pressure.

"Parties aren't really my thing," he admitted, swallowing a good mouthful of his drink before smiling at his crew, "I'm just glad they're enjoying themselves, this will probably be one of the few times they can relax like this. At least until we reach Jaya or Water 7. I'm not keen on letting them near Arabasta with that bastard Crocodile there," he explained, upper lip curling at the thought of the other Shichibukai.

Igarappoi eyed the young 'woman' in front of him, "You look rather familiar, Miss, have we met before?" he asked suspiciously.

Kai shrugged, smirking slightly, "Who knows. The Grand Line is a big place," he admitted setting his empty glass down on a near-by table. "Do you always throw such parties for Pirates reaching the Grand Line? Only, this is the first I've heard of it," said the twenty-year-old looking up through his bangs at the Mayor.

Igarappoi was saved from answering when one of the men grabbed Kai's wrist, "Hey, Sweetie, come dance with us! Don't hide that pretty face in the corner," he crowed tugging the spluttering male away from the shadowy corner and onto the '_dance floor_' where he found himself being whirled into the grasp of another man.

"N-no, it's alright! I don't dance! Honest!" the green eyed male squeaked, slipping from their grasp, hands held defensively in front of him only to bump into someone from behind.

It was all rather dizzying as he found himself being spun from person to person, his feet moving automatically to keep his balance, drunken arms and legs in his path being ducked and stepped over. He was vaguely aware of his crewmates laughing and cheering as they watched him, Sanji cat calling and Nami wolf-whistling, his cheeks burned in embarrassment but a sly smile crossed his face. If they wanted something to watch, he'd give it to them.

Kai found himself laughing as he weaved across the dance floor, twisting his body between people, twirling the occasional woman or man who was short enough. Usopp was catcalling him before turning to his audience and claiming that he taught him everything he knew. An eyebrow moving into his hairline Kai smirked challengingly, really now? Usopp did not have _nearly_ enough flexibility to have taught him several of the more... risqué moves he'd learned from the women that Mihawk had within his _acquaintance_.

Just then, he was pushed with perhaps a little too much force towards a table, a foot catching the back of his leg.

The sudden sick weightlessness brought clarity that the spinning had previously stolen.

That movement, it was much too calculated and exact to be an accident, if he didn't do something he would hit the back of his head against that table with enough force to knock out your average pirate – he should know, he calculated that force often enough when hitting people.

His spine curved, Nami whistled, his hands hit the floor and his legs flipped up, over, down, landing _on_ the table.

The cheering increased in volume as he straightened, bringing his upper body in line with his waist, regaining his balance on the table, arms aloft, somehow managing to avoid knocking anything over or put his foot into the food.

"Dance!"

"Spank it, Sugar!"

"Shake it like you mean it!"

Kai flushed and jumped off, he was _never_ dancing again, ever. He marched over to Zoro's table, ignoring the groans of complaint and the pleas to come back as he grabbed the tankard from the smirking swordsman's hand before he could raise it fully to his mouth and drained the potent liquor in one long chug.

"I hate dancing," he gasped, slamming the glass back down on the table.

"Looks like you were having fun," the green haired male refuted, Kai ignored him.

"Thanks Z, I'm heading back to the ship though. Parties aren't really my thing," he told the swordsman, giving him a pointed look which pretty much meant that he would be getting the ship ready and protect it in case their 'Hosts' attempted to damage/steal it.

Zoro nodded, "Sure, sleep well," he grunted waving his glass towards the barrel to get it refilled.

* * *

"Wow, this certainly is a party," the former Grand Liner muttered watching Zoro's little performance from his lofty seat at the top of the Church Bell Tower.

He couldn't see everything that was happening, but he could keep an eye on the action – who knew Zoro could be so playful? It looked like he was having a whale of a time – and make sure nothing happened to the Merry. He did have to chuckle when the swordsman fell prey to Miss Wednesday's weird dance. Seemed that Zoro worked just as much on instinct as Luffy did on certain occasions – like when confronted with cleavage(1).

The dark haired male shook his head, it looked as though he didn't have anything to worry about, Zoro could handle anything that these Mercenaries could dish out and the rest of the crew were still sleeping so it was doubtful they could stagger in and get caught up in the mess. He may as well get some shut eye.

Pushing off from the bell tower, Kai dropped back down to the harbour and climbed back into the Merry, running a hand along the railings, "Well, Zoro's off there having a grand ol' time with his new toys, everyone else is sleeping so I guess it's just you and me now Merry. What say we run away together? Just you and me and the wide blue sea," he asked the figure head before chuckling, "Nah, didn't think you'd go for it. Ah well, can't blame a guy for trying," he admitted before toeing open the hatch to the men's room, "I'm for bed now, wake me up if something happens, Merry," he told the ship with a smirk.

Dropping down into the room, he unhooked the whip he had attached to his hip and set it on the table before flopping back on his '_bed_' – couch really – and curling into a ball.

He was dozing before long, half awake half asleep.

He grunted, it felt like someone was nudging him slightly in the side.

"_what... hell... talking... don't... at – all!_"

"_shut up! Crush... ungrateful... ground!_"

The nudging was getting more insistent.

"_gave us... welcome... good food... harm... kind people!_"

Green eyes fluttered open and the nudging feeling faded, had he just imagined it?

"_lies! what kind of enemy would bring us food?_" that sounded like... Luffy?

"Goddamnit, I leave them alone for ten minutes to get my head down and what on earth happens?" he complained, jumping to his feet, grabbing the whip as he ran to the stairs, climbing up quickly without bothering to stamp into his boots again as he jumped onto the dock below and ran through the streets.

Watching Luffy and Zoro honestly attempting to kill each other was... not what he expected to see.

He sighed and plunked himself down on a crate, "Well, they could be at this for hours, best to let them get it out of their systems," he complained crossing his legs and dropping his chin up on his elbow. Really, it was like watching Lucci and Paulie duke it out.

Apparently Nami didn't agree with this course of action and punched them.

Just how strong was that girl? She was able to lay both of them out or debilitate them with a single punch yet most of the time she was just as physically weak as Usopp was.

A running gag maybe?

And thus came the explanations.

"Ahahaha ahahaha hahaha! Man Zoro, why didn't you just say?" Luffy asked laughing uproariously as Zoro explained the whole fight between himself and Baroque Works, Kai simply shaking his head from where he was sat above the swordsman having examined his head from the blow Miss Monday gave him. "I thought you were angry because they didn't have any of your favourite foods!"

"DON'T COMPARE ME TO _YOU!_" the swordsman roared, Luffy took no notice and continued to laugh.

"Well, don't worry about it," the young Captain assured his First Mate cheerily.

Nami snarled, pointing furiously at them, "You two, SHUT UP!" she barked making them recoil like chastised children, Kai refrained from laughing at their reaction, she turned back to the young Princess, "So, that's our offer. We want 1,000,000,000 Belli for escorting you to safety," Kai frowned at the thief but kept quiet, unless Luffy said otherwise their finances were controlled by her. Vivi turned away and stared at her feet, hands clenched on her knees until her knuckles turned white. "You saw how strong these guys are, right?" Nami continued smirking, "Quite a bargain, don't you think?" she coaxed.

"Impossible," Vivi snapped as politely as she could. Nami blinked in surprise at the vehement refusal. "You have my gratitude for saving my life, thank you."

"Why not?" Nami whined pouting slightly, "You're a Princess aren't you? It's just a measly Billion."

"Do you know of a country called Arabasta?" the aqua haired girl asked, trying to explain to Nami why she couldn't pay the price the thief wanted for their saving her.

"No, I've never heard of it," Nami admitted.

"Yup, been there. Ran into a guy who never shut up about you as well Princess, Kohza, seemed pretty smitten if you ask me," Kai admitted smirking slightly at the pink hue which enveloped the girl's face.

"Ah, I mean, that is, good, that you know of Arabasta that is. Yes. Arabasta, not Kohza, ah, um yes!" she squeaked, Kai had to physically restrain himself from pinching her cheeks and cooing. Ahh, retards in love, it was such a beautiful thing. She shook her head and became serious again, "Arabasta used to be the most peaceful and civilised nation on the Grand Line," she explained.

"Used to?" Nami echoed warily, not liking the way this was beginning to sound.

"It's on the verge of a Civil War," she admitted softly, shamefully, "In recent years, the call for Revolution has emerged. The citizens began to create turmoil and disturb the nation, committing acts of insurrection. One day, I heard the name of a secret organisation: _Baroque Works_," she spat voice thick with angry venom, "I learned that they were responsible for manipulating the people, inciting the rebellion. Aside from this, however, I was unable to get any more information. So there's nothing my father or I could do," she explained unhappily, hands gripping painfully on her knees. "So I went to Igaram, who had taken care of me since I was a little girl... I decided to infiltrate Baroque Works. I thought that if I did, I could find out who was pulling the strings, and why."

"Pretty gutsy for a Princess," Zoro pointed out smiling approvingly at her. "So, did you find out his intentions?"

Vivi nodded, "The establishment of an ideal nation, right?" Nami asked an odd look on her face, the Princess stared at her in confusion, "Igaram told me earlier," she explained, "Could it be..."

The Princess nodded, "Yes. He claims that establishing this '_ideal nation_' is their purpose. But that is a complete lie. His true intentions are to seize the throne of Arabasta! I _must_ return to my country to tell the people the truth and prevent them from joining the insurrection! If this continues... If this continues..." she trembled, teeth gritted, unable to continue for fear of breaking or bursting into tears.

Kai frowned as he listened to her story. He had, of course, heard of Baroque Works through Shiima and other people in and around the Ocean, Grand Line or East Blue, they had tentacles in every Ocean. He had also made a point of avoiding them, it seemed entirely too shady and underhanded for him, the kind of thing that would have flourished in the early years of the Pirate era. He had heard they were interested in recruiting him but he had always made sure he was _unavailable_ when a member tried to find him.

"So, who's the boss?" Luffy asked tilting his head to the side slightly grinning in excitement.

The Princess began to panic, waving her hands around as if trying to ward the Pirate off, "The Boss? You can't ask me that!"

"But you know don't you?" Luffy continued.

"Don't ask me that! I can't tell you! If I told you, they would hunt you down as well!" she exclaimed.

Nami laughed in relief, "Well, we don't want that. And of course, trying to take over an entire island nation, he must be an incredibly strong guy."

The Princess nodded severely, "Yes, no matter _how_ good you are, you can't compare to the Shichibukai Crocodile!" she declared.

Pause...

"Didn't you just tell us?" Zoro asked glowering at the younger girl who had her hands clamped over her mouth in horror. Kai arched an eyebrow, unsurprised by this little titbit of knowledge, sounded like something Crocodile would have his hook into.

The group froze and looked up.

There was an Otter in a pair of spotted pyjamas and a Vulture with a flight cap sat on the roof.

Pause...

The Vulture and the Otter exchanged a glance.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Kai grunted as the pair suddenly flew off and Nami flew off the handle, throttling the Princess for getting them onto the Baroque Works Hit List. Zoro was grinning gleefully as he spoke with Luffy while Nami shrieked and flailed around, Kai only shook his head, those two had seen them now panicking wasn't going to change the fact that they now had Crocodile-Yarou trying to kill them.

Still, that Otter was a really good artist, even if Kai looked entirely too feminine in that picture.

The Pirate sighed and leaned back on his crate, watching the events unfold with resigned look on his face, he could see how this was going to end, honestly, somehow the Strawhats always managed to get into trouble. He should have expected this.

Why had he agreed to join this crew again?

Oh yes, he thought they had potential to become the newest Pirate Superpower.

"DO NOT WORRY!"

What... the... _hell_?

That was... Igaram... dressed as Princess Vivi... complete with bodice. Oh god, was he an Okama! No, no he wasn't, or he would have been able to realise that Kai was a man and not a woman, only Okama could do that so far.

"Vivi-sama," Igaram began while Kai sighed and planted his elbow on Zoro's head, leaning against him.

"A fine mess we've gotten ourselves into, and it's only the first evening too," he mused thoughtfully.

Zoro chuckled, "Admit it, you'd be disappointed if we hadn't," he retorted.

Kai smirked and tugged a strand of green hair, "Be that as it may, I did _hope_ for a quiet few days, at least until we reached the second or third island."

"NOW, WAIT JUST A MINUTE!" Nami roared climbing to her feet, looking distinctly frazzled, "Who said we'd take the Princess anywhere?" she demanded, "We still don't have a contract."

"Take the Princess?" Luffy queried looking at Zoro for confirmation about what was going on, "What's that about?"

"Weren't you paying attention?" the swordsman demanded in exasperation, "the old man wants us to take her home," he explained getting to his feet and knocking Kai's arm from his head as he did so.

"Oh, that's what they're on about?" Luffy asked, "Okay," and cue Nami's freak out.

Really, it was almost like they rehearsed this. Kai snorted as he got to his feet, shifting his whip to a more comfortable position and ignoring the curious, slightly leering look from the green haired male as he did so.

"Will you accept?" Igaram asked, staring at Luffy.

Luffy just smiled, "Sure. Sounds like fun," he chirped.

"You have my utmost gratitude!"

Nami looked like she was about to start crying.

* * *

The explosion nearly knocked him off his feet.

"Damnit! Someone found him!" Zoro yelled over the sound of the roaring flames, the sky lit up with bright orange, fire licking at the inky blue darkness of the sky.

"HE WAS A GREAT MAN!" Luffy bellowed to the air, the only send off he could actually give the man who just gave his life for his Princess and his country.

"Nami! The Log?" Zoro barked.

"It's OK, it's already set!"

"Grab her!" he ordered jerking his head towards Vivi as she stared out at the burning horizon, "Get back to the ship!" he added before whipping around and running back towards the ship, "Oi, Luffy, go get the others! We'll get the ship!"

"Okay! Will do!" the younger pirate confirmed before veering off of the street and heading back towards the bar where Usopp and Sanji should still be sleeping.

It was a mad rush back to the Going Merry, Luffy veered off to go and get Usopp and Sanji while Nami and Vivi began to argue over trying to find someone called Carue, apparently Vivi wasn't going to leave without him. Shaking his head, Kai took Usopp and Sanji from Luffy and pushed them into an unoccupied corner until they woke up, that way no one would be tripping up over them. Scampering up into the rigging he yanked the sails free before jumping down and landing beside Vivi, making her jump and nearly fall backwards if he hadn't grabbed her jacket.

"Careful," he warned before scowling as Usopp and Sanji woke, at least Nami's super knuckle sandwiches of PAIN could shut them up as effectively as Zoro and Luffy.

"We're about the clear the island!" Nami called as they sailed through the morning fog.

"Cool! Fog!" Luffy cheered.

"It'll be morning soon," the ginger haired thief pointed out thoughtfully, her voice painted with slight concern.

Kai stiffened. But he didn't turn.

"Well, it's a good thing you got away from your pursuers," the familiar voice purred.

"It sure is," Nami agreed, pleased. Kai closed his eyes, he knew that voice.

"Watch out for the shallows so that you don't strike the hull," the voice continued, a slight maternal chiding tone to it now.

"You can count on me," Nami declared dismissively, confident in her abilities as a Navigator. There was a pause before she slowly looked to her Captain, "Uh, was that you Luffy?" she asked.

"Nya?" obviously not then.

"Nice ship," the woman stated a small slow smile crossing her lips, dark tanned fingers tapping against her cheek.

"Nico... Robin..." Kai breathed softly craning his head to look up at the familiar woman, a woman he had met before in passing while stranded in a shitty little Yakuza den. She had been quite happily minding her own business drinking a cup of coffee when some scummy Yak began to harass her, Kai stepped in and beat his skull into mush and the two of them got talking. At first Nico-san had been rather amused by the tiny 'child's' apparent chivalry, then properly intrigued by his lack of memory and unique eyes, eyes that she had never seen before nor heard about recorded within History books.

She still had that love of Cow Boy hats he noted.

Nico-san smiled playfully, "I just met Mr Eight, _Miss Wed-nes-day_," she drawled, smiling coolly as Vivi paled her face twisting in hatred.

"You killed Igaram," she grit out.

"Even if you did, why the hell are you on my ship!" Luffy demanded pointing at her, "Who are you?"

"What are you doing HERE! Miss _All Sunday_!"

* * *

Nico-san had said they were headed for Little Garden huh...

Kai sighed leaning back against the mast, he wondered if he should warn the crew about it... he severely doubted that Nico-san would have lied to them about this, she gave off none of the usual markers (she never had to be honest). Nico had no love for the world, for Baroque Works, for Arabasta, for even her own life. So Kai doubted she had lied about their heading, besides he could tell, some hither-toward unknown sixth sense told him they _were _headed towards Little Garden.

Which begged the question: Should he tell his Nakama about this particular island's... _eccentricities_? Like the Dinosaurs for one.

It _would_ be more fun to see their reactions when they figured it out on their own, and it wasn't like there was a dinosaur on that island that could prove a threat to any of them – save Vivi, Usopp and Nami. Then there was Brogy and Dory, they were nice guys, but sometimes they just didn't realise just how fragile most humans were.

Kai _should_ warn them.

* * *

**(1) Zoro vs Cleavage:** He's a hot blooded 19-year-old. I hardly think he'd be a virgin in the One Piece verse where there are no doubt as many brothels as there were in our own Pirate era. Plus, Kai can't see the perfume Vivi used to choke his sense of smell. Ergo, it looks like he lost to the power of BOOBS.

* * *

**I made a booboo. I uploaded the interlude before it should have. XDD;; It was supposed to be posted AFTER this chapter – but me, being a silly, didn't realise that my files were saved in the wrong order and posted the next file after Chapter 7. Which was the interlude.**

**WHOOPS.**


	9. Interlude Bonding

**IGNITION**

**Interlude:** _Bonding_

_AN: _I made a Booboo, this chapter should have been uploaded AFTER chapter 8. Please go and read the previous Chapter DD8 Lack of sleep made me post in the wrong order.

* * *

The steam was thick within the room, coiling up and around her in lazy thoughtless patterns, the scent of oranges and soap lingering in the steam as Nami washed her back, chattering happily about her village and her sister and all the trouble she used to get into as a little girl(1).

Vivi's mind was, however, elsewhere.

She wasn't quite sure what to make of the Straw Hat Pirates. All six of them.

The Captain, Monkey D. Luffy, was a complete and unabashed _idiot_, he acted like an overly excited puppy, rushing around the ship, harassing people and getting into mischief to amuse himself. But on the other hand, she remembered the fight between him and Mr Bushido and the incident against Mr 5 and Miss Valentine; it was frightening to think that such an idiot held such power. He bounced rather than walked, he hopped and he skipped and he was all over the place, he was loud and proud and he practically burned like an inferno of energy. He may have been an idiot but... Vivi couldn't help but **_know_** he would be great, he was rough around the edges, he was uncut and unpolished but under that... there was something lurking, something waiting, sleeping. Something powerful.

Mr Bushido, Roronoa Zoro, was perhaps the only one of the crew that resembled her imagination concerning Pirates. Powerful, bloodthirsty and thuggish, crude with a love of alcohol and violence. But on the other hand, he was honourable and that confused her. She watched him interact with the crew, how he followed the Captain's orders unquestionably but also put him in his place when he got out of hand, watched over everyone in the crew and while he may have overreacted to a few things, he was surprisingly one of the most level headed of the crew. He was calm and certain, he moved carefully, and he watched. He was quick and ruthless and without second chances, simple and direct – just like his swords. He reminded her of a beast, of an animal, some kind of great predator that did not bother with stealth, had no need for stealth when he was the top predator in the water.

Nami-san... She was a thief and a business woman through and through, cunning and mischievous, she seemed like an ordinary girl but her skill at Navigation was _staggering_. She had never seen another person so capable of reading the Grand Line as her; she seemed to instinctively know the changes in the air currents, the temperature and the waves around her. That kind of hypersensitivity was unheard of for _normal_ humans. She was the complete opposite of Mr Bushido, she was stealth and liquid sneakiness, she was cunning and dazzling, she danced around people, her voice, her words, luring and trapping and tangling. Binding them to her. She was smart and she was proud, Vivi didn't know what shaped her into this creature, this being, but her spine was straight and strong, she couldn't bend, she refused to break. Her pride had been laid low once; the Princess doubted if the thief would ever allow it to be done so again. Even at the cost of her life.

The Cook, Sanji-san, he was a gentleman to women and perhaps a bit harsh towards men, holding an interesting rivalry with Mr Bushido, constantly trying to outdo him and prove himself superior. It appeared to be a source of constant entertainment to the rest of the crew – even if at times it did annoy Nami-san and Usopp-san. But he was loyal, he jokingly claimed to only give the men scraps and the food about to go off but she had seen him, he made sure they were all taken care of. He was a pirate yet he was a gentleman, he was hot tempered and foul mouthed yet polite and suave. Sanji-san was a contradiction, two halves of a coin with the ability to flip between them and dance on the very edges with those talented feet of his.

Usopp-san though, he seemed like any other seventeen-year-old boy dreaming of being a Pirate, but he was here, doing it, instead of just dreaming. Vivi ran her fingers through her thick wet hair, he didn't fit, didn't seem to fit anyway, at least at first. He was cowardly, weak, without much to offer the crew, but watching them, she realised, Usopp-san was really very brave, he was brave because he was weak, because he got frightened but he still stood beside these powerful people and tried to do his fair part. Usopp... he was strong, but not in the same way as the others, he was strong and he was pure because he stood beside these people come hell or high water. He was their heart.

At first glance they seemed like weaklings, like goofy idiots on a pleasure cruise with no idea that they were sailing into a Sea King nest. But 30,000,000 Belli spoke for itself and who on the Grand Line _hadn't_ heard of the Demon of the Sea? Of Leviathan's Child?

Namikaze Kai... she had heard stories about him from her friends, a Pirate with no picture, no bounty, no information, yet a body count stretching from Reverse Mountain to Sabaody Archipelago and people such as Red Haired Shanks, Hawk Eyes Mihawk, Crocus, Setsuna the Violet, The Dark Evangel, and other similar Pirates within his acquaintance. He was the definition of enigma. And she was riding a ship with him and he was honestly absolutely _nothing_ like he had been described, at first, she had even thought him to be a woman, he was so graceful and his features androgynous yet very pretty, until she realised he was using the masculine '_Ore_' opposed to '_Watashi_' or '_Atashi_'. She had not been around him much, but she had seen his behaviour around the other members of the crew. He and Sanji heckled one another but at the same time, Kai was the first one to help out in the kitchen when Luffy was being particularly demanding, he and Nami chattered like brother and sister, occasionally with a bit of playful pinching and hair pulling, he and Usopp would sit and chatter, occasionally listening to stories one another told while they worked on their weapons, Luffy and he seemed to share a love of chaos and mischief, the two of them locked together in a small enclosed room would probably bring about the end of the world, and Zoro... that was a bit more complicated than she thought it was at first glance.

Mutual respect for one another, most certainly. Vivi had seen Zoro finally break down and ask what weapons he had in his Toy Box and proceed to have every single weapon Kai owned dropped in front of him, and there were _a lot_. Vivi had never seen several of those weapons, knives, throwing stars, needles, whips, bo staves, rattan sticks, fans, knuckle dusters, claws, pistols, rifles, a strange bazooka with sea-shell attachments, a three segmented spear, nunchaku, a strange combination of whip and sword, hammers, maces, axes – one about the same size as _he_ was – hatchets, a pair of scythes, spools of wire, thick leather gloves, bladed claws, folding kamas, metal plated books, slingshots, sai, Eku, sansetsukon, surujin and it's cousin the manriki, tonfa, butterfly swords – not to be confused with the butterfly knife which was also known as a balisong - crossbows and, despite being rather unskilled by his own admission, he also possessed a Meitou. A plain looking katana at first glance, the hilt wrapped in worn red with a flower shaped guard of dull metal, be it brass, gold or bronze Vivi wasn't sure. It was a little on the thin side, delicate seeming almost, with a gentle lustre to the edge, almost rainbow like, and undeniably razor sharp. Kai had actually blushed, like an embarrassed little girl, when he admitted it was a gift from his older brother, the sword's name was _Kagai_(2) – which had gotten a long and hard laugh from the majority of the crew.

Vivi's eyes spun just thinking about the weaponry that man had stashed away – and knew how to use.

It was scary to realise that yes, the kindly delicate seeming dark haired male who was so gentle and good humoured was probably quite capable of committing the acts he was accused of, and probably had in the past. Those weapons had seen some use in their lives, they were well cared for, but even for her, she could see the marks of use upon them.

" – Bellemere-kaasan was always teasing him something chronic, it seemed like the right thing to do to copy her, it always made him turn so red," Nami explained with relish, reaching over Vivi's shoulder to grab at the shower head so she could rinse off the Princess's back. The bathroom was very small, the tub even smaller, but really, they did have to save their supplies so everyone took baths in groups of two with Nami being the exception until Vivi showed up. She was actually rather glad now, she liked having another girl to chat to, Kai, despite looking like a girl, was very _not _girlish.

It was the second day sailing since leaving Whiskey Peak; it would be another three before they reached Little Garden, the prehistoric island.

Kai had been very forth coming in explaining the situation to them, Little Garden was a Prehistoric island with a pair of duelling Giants on it by the name of Brogy and Dory, good guys, very friendly but didn't quite understand how fragile humans could be.

'_Downside, is that it'll take too long for the Log Pose to set_,' the older male explained before grinning slyly, '_But! I know a way of cheating._'

The odd Charm bracelet, the simple silver chain around his wrist with the tiny nuggets and bars of different coloured metal and stone, was his secret method – hard as it was to believe.

'_See these? My own little invention, they're called _Log Charms_. It's a way of cheating your way around the Grand Line, but it only works if you've already been to where you want to be,_' he explained at dinner, unclipping the object and laying it out on the table in front of them all, '_I spent two years in the Grand Line with my older brother, we went to almost every island in the first half, quite often he ditched me for weeks or months at a time to take care of some personal business. Quite often it was long enough for me to find a jewellers and get one of these charms made out of the unique metal or mineral that created the island's magnetic field,_' he said, pointing to each of the charms, '_I used to have a lot more, they went to about seventy percent of all the inhabited islands on the Grand Line and to about half of the uninhabited ones. I ended up having to trade them back in East Blue to get the equipment we would need for journeying on the Grand Line, unfortunately that included my Log Pose and the charm for Arabasta. However, we _are_ on the right track for Arabasta. We've just got the major pain in the ass of Little Garden to get past yet._'

At this, Zoro looked confused, '_How is this island more of a pain in the ass than others?_' he had asked, leaning over Kai's shoulder to get a better look at the bracelet. Vivi been staring at the young man in shock, never had she ever considered something akin to that in her life, never even heard of it, it was genius! How had no one ever thought about it before hand? It was like carrying an Eternal Pose to every Island you'd been to in the past on your wrist!

'_Little Garden, it's quite the remote location and as you guys saw from Whiskey Peak, not many Pirates go there. Very few Pirates get this route to be honest, and to actually survive it is so far been unheard of. See, Little Garden is a prehistoric island, dinosaurs still roam it, monsters and insects and diseases that are fatal to humans. Not to mention the volcanoes are in constant eruption meaning the temperature is scorching. The average human doesn't survive longer than a month, maybe two, on this island. If the animals don't get you, it's either the heat or the disease. And the Log Pose takes a year to set._' he explained with a wry look on his face.

'_EEEEH!_' Nami shrieked, '_A year! Really!_'

Kai nodded, '_Yup. But this is where my cheat comes in,_' the Navigator perked up, as did the rest of them, '_See, I was able to keep hold of my Charm for Little Garden. What we do, is slip this charm into the Log Pose when we reach Little Garden. The concentrated mineral will polarise with the trace amounts around the Pose,_' he smiled then, '_meaning that in a single afternoon, our Log Pose will have set to the next island. I'm not sure what island it is, never been there, but, I _do_ know that after that island, we have Arabasta_.'

Vivi... she had nearly fainted when she heard this, the fact that Kai had discovered and invented this himself made her light headed and ill. Pirates... Pirates weren't supposed to be _SMART_! Cunning, yes, alright. But s_mart_! No. She had always been told that Pirates were good for nothing thugs! And the ones that caused trouble in Arabasta only lent credence to that.

When she told this to the older male he burst out laughing and had, of all things, agreed with her, '_Most Pirates are thugs. The ones that make something of themselves though... they're an entirely different animal. It's like comparing a Sea Snake to a Sea _King_. Or a house cat to a panther,_' he told her, chuckling.

"Vivi, are you even listening?" Nami asked voice a little curious and a little hurt as well as she poked the younger girl in the shoulder.

"_Aa!_ Of course, Nami-san," the Princess lied smiling nervously, "Kokoyashi sounds wonderful, though I can't help but feel sorry for Gen-san."

Nami grinned, none the wiser to the Princess's wondering thoughts.

* * *

"Harder! C'mon! Harder, Roronoa! I'm not a fucking twig – you won't snap me or anything! Push harder! Harder-_Harder_-HARDER!"

Sanji chuckled from his seat in the rigging, thoroughly enjoying the performance taking place on Deck. Who knew the Trap was so _flexible_? Or loud.

"That's it! That's it! Speed it up now, Roronoa! Faster-_Faster_-FASTER!"

"GO ZORO!" Usopp cheered waving a fist from where he was stood in front of the kitchen with Vivi and Nami, "KICK HIS ASS!"

Nami wouldn't stop giggling, but whether that was over how badly those words could sound out of context or the sight of the muscular Ex-Pirate Hunter getting thrown around like a rag doll by a slender waif that wasn't – no one could actually tell.

Kai was kicking Zoro's ASS.

But the other swordsman was gaining ground, catching up, adapting to Kai's speed and style with frightening skill, and the two were having a real party. In the beginning Zoro had _attempted_ to hold back, Kai got pissed off with that pretty quick and took a swipe at his head with a closed fist, a blow that would have crushed the man's skull if he hadn't moved and taken it on the shoulder, the sharp shout of pain had been more than enough for the others to realise that while Kai _looked_ physically weak, he was anything but. And from that point on, Zoro stopped worrying about holding back and he really went for it. The two of them sharing blows that would have broken bones on anyone else – not that Kai actually took many hits, he was fast, much faster than Zoro even without using his Rokushiki techniques, he danced around the swordsman, long handled scythe in hand twisting and dodging, striking and parrying, he spun the weapon around him like it was just an extension of his body. In turn, Zoro was using all three of his blades to fend him off, his breathing was ragged and his body soaked with sweat that dripped off the end of his nose and jaw.

But they were both grinning, broad, feral, excited, bare toothed grins of exhilarated primal glee.

Vivi was... a little frightened.

Nami was watching the performance with the air of one thoroughly enjoying herself.

Usopp had made a passing comment about Slasher Smiles before joining Luffy in cheering for whomever they chose.

They had been fighting for half an hour already, muscles trembling and straining now as they clashed again. Long straight staffed Scythe meeting Santouryuu, clashing and grinding in a cacophony of shrieking metal.

They jumped back, Kai landing like a coiled spring on Merry's railings, scythe dropping from his hands as he launched forward, Zoro reacting more out of instinct than any realisation that he was now unarmed as he flung himself forward to engage again.

Kai ducked down and launched up under his guard.

Black eyes widened comically as a pale hand slapped over them.

Knee's locking over and under his shoulders.

Sanji's cigarette fell from his open mouth.

Kai pushed forward, hand hitting the deck, launching up – over, legs uncurling, back flexing.

Zoro went flying.

Legs folded, head pulling up, body tucking, Kai landed in a crouch as Zoro's flailing body hit the water with an almighty splash.

Silence.

"BASTARD!" the green haired man roared surfacing from the water, shaking a fist – currently clutching two swords.

As one, the observers burst into laughter.

Blushing furiously, Zoro swam back to the ship as Kai threw down a rope for him to climb up, his face a picture of guilty amusement as he pulled the taller man onto the deck. Rolling his hands he twisted to the side and flung an arm out, all the water that had soaked into his clothes and drenched his hair and swords being pulled away and back into the ocean.

Rubbing at his sweaty hair, the dark haired male offered an apologetic smile, "Um, that's the warm up over with," he explained, deciding to just put that incident behind him, perhaps Zoro would learn from it, after all, just because someone went at him with a weapon didn't mean they didn't know how to fight with something _other_ than that weapon. "Now we're working on weights, arms first."

Zoro nodded, this training was either going to kill him or bring him that much closer to his dream of defeating the Hawk Eyes man.

He was determined to make sure it was the latter.

* * *

"You still sore?" the paler male asked, craning over Zoro's shoulder, long wet hair trailing across the swordsman's shoulder and falling down his chest. Ticklish and slightly distracting he only grunted, perhaps a little more sourly than he normally would have but damn, not only was his chest, arms and legs bruised, but so was his pride. The smaller male had _not_ gone easy on him, but at the same time, the former Pirate Hunter could tell he most certainly hadn't gone all out. **_That_** was the reason for his bruised pride more than anything.

Not long after they had finished their training - sparring, weight training on both arms and legs, swimming along side the Merry for a few hours, practising techniques and finishing up with another spar - Sanji had practically shoved the two of them towards the bathroom. Vivi had gone to the effort of pumping them up some bath water so they were going to damn well use it or they weren't going to be having dinner, at least, that was what the blond cook had told them.

Considering how hard they had been working, they were both _ravenous_.

So, without fuss or comment, the both of them had stripped down and climbed into the bath, Usopp had gone and grabbed them some fresh clothes and left them folded up just outside the bathroom so they could just reach out and grab them when they were finished.

"Zoro?"

"Yeah, you hit hard," he admitted gruffly, hyper aware of the other male stood behind him, he did not like people behind him, it was why he always slept against a wall, he trusted Kai yes but he still wasn't one-hundred percent comfortable with it.

"Keh, thanks. Hold still, I think I left some of that bruise salve in here from way back before Kokoyashi," the other male admitted, Zoro twitching slightly as the other male climbed out of the small bath and opened up the medicine cabinet. Curiosity got the better of him and he glanced quickly over his shoulder, yup, a few bruises, not nearly as many as he had, but they were nastier, black splotches marring otherwise pale white skin. "Here we go," the other male declared cheerfully, pulling out the tub of pale green paste, Zoro quickly jerked his eyes away from the other male's legs and directed them back to that crack in the wall.

Kai merely raised an eyebrow at the attention.

* * *

The night was warm, warm enough for everyone to gather out on deck.

The stars overhead were bright and the six of them were sat wrapped up in blankets and lounging at the front of the ship, clustered around a tray with a number of wax candles offering them light, bottles of alcohol and mugs on every available flat surface that a blanket or a body wasn't sprawled across.

"OK, OK, Ok, I have one," Nami announced waving around her glass, trying to get the raucous lot to shut up, when the laughter had finally died down she smirked deviously, "I have _never_... threatened to rip a guy's _kintama_ off," she announced.

"Ah, mean!" Kai complained, knocking back a swig of his drink, Sanji, Zoro and Vivi following suit – the Princess with a rather sheepish smile amidst the scandalous squeak from Sanji.

Usopp shuddered, "OK, Kai's turn now!" he declared, secretly hoping the dark haired male would choose something less... traumatising than their ginger crewmate.

For a moment, the eldest Pirate hummed thoughtfully, "Done that, done that too, hmm... maybe – no did that two years ago..." Luffy was sniggering now while Nami looked amusedly exasperated – was there anything Kai had not yet done? "Ah-ha! Oh damn," the green eyed male groaned, face flaming in embarrassment, "Ok, here's one. I have never hadsex-oranykindofsexualencounter," he coughed; face pink and determinedly not looking anyone in the eye.

Nami paused, deciphering what was said before her eyes practically bugged out of her skull, "_Eeeeh!_ _Never!_ B-B-but you're, you're like, TWENTY! Ho-how could you not have?"

Kai's face was now red, rather akin to a tomato, "I just... haven't, alright?"

Shaking her head in disbelief, Nami tipped her drink back and took a swig, Zoro and Sanji following suit, the latter sniggering as he did so.

"Maybe you just couldn't find someone who could handle being tricked into the sack?" he suggested only to get a mug thrown into his face.

"Shut up Sanj," Kai told him flatly, dropping his head onto his folded arms, "My older brother jokes all the time about finding someone to screw me, but anyone that shows an interest gets beheaded the minute I turn my back on them and, well, it kind of goes against..." and here he mumbled so quietly no one could hear what was said but Nami paled in surprise at the comment regarding his brother anyway while Kai dug his toes into his blanket, waving a lazy hand. "Besides, they were weak," he stated scornfully, "Like hell I'd fuck with a weakling. Luffy, your turn," he barked, closing the door on that conversation.

"I have never ridden a Sea King," the Wanna-Be Pirate King announced looking a little disappointed.

Kai groaned and took a drink, "I swear you guys are conspiring against me or something," he complained.

Luffy laughed, "Vivi, your turn!" he chirped.

Smiling and blushing slightly in embarrassment, the Princess nodded, "Um, I have never played '_I never_'," she admitted watching as Kai, Sanji, Nami and Usopp all took a drink. "Mr Bushido, your turn," she decided looking at Zoro who grunted and frowned thoughtfully.

"I have never... smashed my fist _through_ someone's skull," he tried.

"That's profiling," Kai growled and took a drink – he was the only one who did.

Smirking slightly, the swordsman looked at Usopp, "Your turn," he declared, taking a swig of his drink anyway.

Thinking hard for a moment, Usopp suddenly grinned, "I have never been defeated in a Duel!" he declared, prompting a skin stripping glare from Zoro – who wasn't pleased about being reminded of his disastrous fight against Mihawk.

Never the less the swordsman took a drink, as did Vivi. Kai frowned thinking, he _supposed_ he had lost plenty of fights against Mihawk, but were they really duels? Did duels usually start off with waking up to find yourself about to get eight more breathing holes? Hesitantly, he took a tiny sip, a frown on his face.

Sanji hummed before grinning wickedly, "I have never urinated on myself in public!"

Red faced and embarrassed; only Usopp raised his bottle and took a drink.

* * *

The next morning, Vivi awoke to the sound of clashing metal and knew that Mr Bushido and Kai-san were training again, getting up and dressed quickly, she made her way upstairs and out onto the deck.

This morning it seemed as though Zoro was reviewing his sword basics by teaching them to Kai, who despite already knowing them as well, was not very good with swords – though to be honest, Vivi couldn't see _how_ he was unskilled with his sword. Yet considering how Zoro was matching him with just one of his own blades, where as yesterday he needed all three to keep up with the other male's scythe, she supposed that in comparison he would call himself unskilled.

A moment later, Zoro had the smaller male disarmed and pinned, it was almost a mirror of that rainy afternoon where Zoro and Tashigi duelled. The difference here being that Kai was never one to roll over and accept a defeat.

Really, Zoro should have expected the knee he got slammed into his crotch.

From the kitchen, Sanji cringed in sympathetic pain and made a mental note never to piss Kai off to that point. He had _heard_ the impact from inside the Kitchen.

Never mind Zoro's shout of pain, and the following whimper.

Still, it made for great entertainment when he pushed the pain aside and then started chasing Kai across the ship – determined to behead him or return the favour, the dark haired male laughing the whole time as he nimbly dodged the enraged swordsman.

* * *

Kai groaned, rubbing his head from where he was leaning against the bathroom tiles, "I said I was sorry, you didn't have to hit me that hard," he complained, his skull was slightly cracked from the blow the other swordsman delivered during a single moment of distraction when Nami called his name.

Zoro smirked from behind him, not in the least bit apologetic. "Should have kept awareness of your surroundings," he retorted.

"Do you want me to drown you?" Kai demanded scathingly looking over his shoulder and glaring at the swordsman. Zoro didn't deign that worth a reply.

Huffing and blowing a strand from his eyes, the other male returned his attention to rubbing the bruise salve onto the large black and green splotches to his stomach and thighs. Zoro had dug out a second pot and was currently working on the really nasty bruise that ran across his shoulders from where he had slammed the flat of Wado Ichimonji across him.

"You're not half bad with the sword, you're no natural, but you're better than most," Zoro admitted apart from that one stripe across the man's shoulder blades there was no mark on his back.

"'_Most_' isn't good enough, Zoro," Kai stated firmly glaring hard at the wall in front of him, not even flinching when the swordsman pressed a little harder than was comfortable against the bruise. "I could devote decades to sword-play and I wouldn't have even half the skill of you or my brothers or even that Marine Girl, I can't afford to waste that time on a pursuit that will give me too little reward for my time," he explained harshly, "The Grand Line is no place for weaklings, and it is no place for the untrained."

Zoro paused hand pressed against Kai's back, there was a moment of silence broken only by the muffled sound of Luffy shouting gleefully and Carue's squawking in alarm.

"Those people we met in Whiskey Peak... they were nothing in comparison, weren't they?" he asked quietly. He had seen the other male briefly during his fight, the other male had been gone a minute later, obviously he didn't think it worth his time to join in. So... that meant Kai knew of much, _much_ more powerful individuals.

Kai nodded, Zoro's eyes watching the shifting of the muscles in the back of his neck and shoulders with fascination, "They weren't even nothing, Zoro. They were _trash_. One more, one less. You shouldn't even remember their faces, their existence," again, Kai shook his head, wet hair sticking to pale flesh, curling slightly against smooth skin, "Their strength lay in numbers, that was it, they are as a swarm of insects. But later..." Kai looked over his shoulder and Zoro froze, there was something in his eyes, something... like fear. "There are monsters in the Grand Line, Zoro. And they aren't all Sea Kings."

"You're afraid," he said shock colouring his words.

Kai snorted and faced the front again, "Only an idiot wouldn't be, Zoro. I know what this place holds. You think Mihawk was the worst of the Shichibukai? Ha! He's the most reasonable of the lot, save perhaps Jinbei and he can be just as savage and cruel as Arlong when he wishes to be," he sighed, "Zoro, I don't give a damn about your pride, if I tell you to run from something, you better fucking run."

Zoro scowled, "No way in hell," he growled, yanking his hand back as though burned.

Kai stiffened and whipped around, water sloshing over the edge of the bath with his movement, "Zoro, I'm not fucking _joking_! If I tell any of the crew to run they fucking better do it or they'll die!"

"I don't run," the swordsman growled.

Kai thumped his chest, "I'm not saying this for the good of my _health_, Roronoa!" he snarled, "Right now I could kill everyone on this ship within FIVE minutes! What chance do you stand against one of the Super-Powers? Against a Shichibukai that _isn't_ Mihawk! I may be able to talk Jinbei out of killing us, but Doflamingo, Moria and Crocodile are a different matter, no one has ever even _seen_ Boa Hancock and there's... there's _no **reasoning** with Kuma!_" there was a note of hysteria in Kai's voice, one that took Zoro by surprise and filled him with a great amount of disquiet. "These are just the Shichibukai! You have the Yonkou after that! Whitebeard has a veritable _army_ at his fingertips and while he's an alright old geezer you don't want to fuck with him! Then there's the World Government themselves, Zoro, I'm not fucking _joking_! Everyone we've met so far has been so laughably weak they don't even **_REGISTER!_**"

Zoro shoved him against the wall, gripping his shoulder painfully tightly, "So we should just run? What point was there in coming to the Grand Line if that's the case!" He barked glaring hotly into equally furious green eyes.

"I'm not saying that at all, Roronoa! Just _listen!_" he snapped grabbing at the swordsman's arm and roughly pushing it away from his shoulder. "Right now we are nothing compared to them, our only chance at surviving is to run. I know Crocodile's weakness so that will give us an edge against him, everything else is pot-luck," the dark haired male sighed, and sagged against the wall and the green haired male felt a spike of guilt that he refused to acknowledge at just how damn _young_ the other male looked all of a sudden. "I don't like it any much than you do," he admitted so quietly Zoro almost didn't hear him, "You guys are strong, alarmingly so, you adapt fast, learn fast, grow fast. Soon you will be able to handle the majority of what gets thrown at you, but right now, the only thing that is keeping us safe is anonymity, which was just shattered to all hell by that fucking Otter. Who no doubt works for Crocodile. Which means he's going to be sending someone a heck of a lot more powerful and smarter than those two jokers we met earlier."

"Who?" Zoro asked.

"Don't know," Kai admitted, "But chances are, it'll be someone who is capable of catching us alive, that bastard has been trying to get his hands on me for a while, if only to piss my brother off. They don't like each other much," he explained rubbing at his shoulder where Zoro had grabbed him, the skin slightly red but already fading.

"Your brother is that strong?" he asked in surprise.

Kai blinked at him and then smiled, it was tired and a little mischievous, "Yes, he's very strong."

* * *

**(1) Nami and Vivi sharing a bath/Zoro and Kai sharing a bath**: Communal bathing is quite common in Japan, it's nothing to turn your nose up, in fact it's considered quite social to share a bath with someone. But in this case it cuts down on time, effort and resources and lessens the strain on Merry's water purifiers and boiler.

**(2) Kagai**: Means '_Red Light District_'. I thought it would be hilarious if Mihawk gave his brother a pervy sword when he is anything but.

Kintama : 'Balls of Gold', basically, testicles.


	10. Chapter 9

**IGNITION**

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

_Concentration_, he thought, his head throbbing painfully as he exerted his will, _C__oncentration, it's all... about... Concentration. Don't lose it, can't lose it... Concentrate..._

It was a very warm and balmy morning, they had finally passed the outer edges of a Magnetic Field and Kai could detect the ever so slight scent of sulphur and rotting vegetation on the wind. They were close to Little Garden now but he couldn't afford to pay attention to that, he had to _concentrate_.

Slowly, ever so delicately and carefully, in front of Carue and Usopp's wide awe filled eyes, the water in the mug in front of him threaded upwards into the air, twisting and braiding together until a single flower was in front of them, made of water and with a short puff of air... froze.

Head throbbing abominably, Kai smiled and lifted the ice-lily from the mug showing it fully to both Usopp and the Arabastian spot-billed duck, glancing over his shoulder he chuckled and flicked the flower away where it landed in Nami's drink. Much to Sanji's annoyance as Usopp and Carue applauded the dark haired male.

Up in the crow's nest, Zoro shook his head and smirked slightly as Sanji flailed and shouted at Kai who merely lounged on the deck and smirked at him while Vivi and Nami exclaimed over the ice-lily and Luffy took the opportunity to steal some of the treats the idiot Love Cook had made for the girls. A typical afternoon on the Going Merry and certainly more enjoyable than the days when he would wonder from town to town, island to island as a bounty hunter simply to get some food and improve his skills with a blade. The training had definitely been helping, he had already noticed an improvement in the speed and strength of his strikes, of course he had also noticed an increased ability to dodge and block those strikes in Kai so they were obviously both improving at a frightening rate – at least according to Nami.

Glancing up, he frowned at the dark blue-green-grey splotch on the horizon; digging out the telescope they tended to keep up there, he put it to his eye and adjusted the focus lazily.

A small circular island with two large white structures that looked a little like mountains filled his scope – a small thin ribbon of smoke rising into the air and dissipating in the wind.

"Island up ahead!" he called, if only because the classic '_land ho_' was annoying and a bit gay.

* * *

Kai chuckled from his position perched on one of the Merry's railings, Little Garden, while possessing one of the cuter names a place in the Grand Line could, was anything but. Primordial jungles and monsters the size of ships, Sea Kings born on land and fly in the sky, Nami and Usopp were terrified and Luffy, as predicted, was excited to the point of glittering.

It was all rather amusing.

They were such kids, Kai decided watching as the more sensible members of the crew opted to stay on ship, and Luffy demanded a Bento Box to take with him as he explored the island.

"Will there be enough for us?" Kai asked nodding to Vivi who was stood beside him looking intrigued. Sanji, always eager to feed pretty girls, was more than happy to comply – even if he did tell Kai his would be smaller and made up of leftovers. The green eyed male merely shrugged and chuckled, he expected no less and to be honest, the leftovers Sanji made may as well have been served in a 4-star restaurant if he was perfectly honest. If he got hungry at any point well, Dory and Brogy were always up for a hog roast and he didn't doubt that Luffy would quite happily devour the majority of whatever dinosaur they hunted.

Two Bento-boxes in a bag strapped to his back, a drink for Carue around the avian's neck and a backpack of MEAT for Luffy and the group were saying their goodbyes, "Don't worry, I'll keep them out of trouble," Kai called over to the crew with a broad grin that somehow did very little to put them at ease. If anything, they had learned that Kai was just as adventurous and reckless as Luffy when he was excited, he was just smarter about it, which inevitably caused some... interesting moments – like that time when he managed to hogtie Luffy to the mast using his own arms.

Kai laughed as he jumped over a fallen tree-log, keeping pace with Luffy and Carue as they thundered across the ground.

"Tag, you're it," the green eyed Pirate suddenly announced, slapping Carue on the leg before racing off.

And thus the game began.

* * *

Scaling the neck of a Euhelopus(1) was perhaps not one of his brightest ideas, but it was one of the more amusing ones, Kai decided as he landed on Dory's elbow, the Giant having just beheaded the creature to save Luffy who hadn't been able to jump away quickly enough to avoid getting chomped.

The Giant was about as cheerful as the last time Kai saw him though they hadn't spoken to one another, he and his friend Brogy were hard at it fighting. Mihawk had brought him to Little Garden to watch one of their legendary bouts so he could understand the honour the Elbaf Giants held and just why they were respected around the world, even by him.

Lunch was a merry affair; both he and Luffy had traded their Bento to Dory for a joint of the Dinosaur meat – which Kai literally had to fight Luffy for a decent amount of. His head wasn't going to thank him for using his ability to weaken Devil Fruit users but his stomach was certainly thankful enough as he jealously guarded his chunk of meat from Luffy's rubber arms.

"Watch, Vivi," Kai told the young Princess from his spot perched atop a tree – he had retreated to save his meat from Luffy as the distance would give him ample time to manoeuvre away from the grasping rubber limbs. "Elbaf Warriors are the best in the world, to see a Duel is a rare treat. This isn't about death, it's about _life_," he explained green eyes watching the two giants clash, gripping the tree he was perched in tightly as the ground trembled with the force of their blows. "For a hundred years they have clashed like this, and they will continue to fight for another hundred, this fight... This is everything that they stand for, for life, for friendship, for peace and ultimately, for pride."

"But its murder!" the Princess shouted, appalled.

Kai shook his head, "No. It's pride, something very different and even more powerful," he explained tearing a chunk of meat from the lump in his hands, casually slapping Luffy's hand as the Pirate attempted to steal the joint away.

The Princess merely shook her head, obviously not understanding. Kai just shrugged, she would understand eventually.

Pride was just as dangerous as a sword in the wrong hands.

* * *

"They will be part of my Special Service set," chuckle, "Save for this one. Mr 0 has requested her brought to him alive, just in case."

Giggle, "Leverage?"

"I would assume so, despite knowing of his identity Mr 0 has decided that... this one required more delicate handling, hence my presence here. Recent information has informed us that if her family noticed any damage, our plans would be _ruined _in a most... messy and painful way."

Grumble, "We could have captured her ourselves."

"And the embarrassment of your defeat in Whiskey Peak was simply a ruse to lure them into a false sense of security, I assume?"

* * *

Sitting down on the grass, Kai sighed a soft puff of warm air as he placed a hand on Dory's jaw.

While he personally had begun to feel a little better, the thumping in his head wasn't quite so bad anymore now that he'd eaten something and had a drink. It happened everytime he used his power for something too finicky or large, if he smacked a Logia user with his power, a brief contact, nothing too much, just a short burst of undeniable physical force, he would feel nothing. If he tried something too big – like creating ice structures or making waves – his head would ache, then throb, then pound and eventually cripple him with pain. There had been only the one incident where he pushed himself too hard, did something... unpleasant with his power to a group of Pirates, he ended up collapsing and falling into a coma for two days. Mihawk had already been in the process of taking him to one of the Doctors he knew when Kai had woken, bleary eyed and not really remembering what had happened. But he'd remembered later after a nice long nap and something hot to eat.

He was, unfortunately, one of the only ones in the clearing who _was_ feeling alright.

Dory was unconscious with internal injuries and some severe abdominal bruising from Luffy's Rubber-Rocket attack and the explosive ale he'd just drank, Vivi looked to be quite stressed, possibly on the verge of a panic attack by the pallor of her skin and Carue... Carue had fled, probably from fear.

"Who? Who could have done this?" Luffy raged, growling, huffing and puffing in frustration and anger.

Kai shook his head, "Anyone Luffy, Brogy and Dory were once very well known and very powerful Pirates in their time. Their Bounty is still active, at 100,000,000 Belli a head. 200,000,000 together. There are very few Pirates and even fewer Marines who wouldn't try for it if they thought they could succeed," he explained sadly hand still resting on Dory's rough skin, he felt cool to the touch. Most Giants did to be honest, their hearts beat at half the rate of a human's because of their massive size, their blood was cooler and their hearts larger, it made them superior combatants compared to most humans but it also made them somewhat more susceptible to disease and other complications from bad food and hygiene.

Vivi shook her head, "But who would be on _this island_?" she asked.

Kai's lips pursed as he turned away, he didn't want to answer that one, to him it was fairly obvious but then again he had been looking under the bed for the boogie monster his whole life. Reading eight meanings into every sentence and planning three escape routes from every ship, house and hotel he'd ever set foot in. Expecting the worst, seeing chains and links of things best left alone, best not thought of was what he did. Mihawk called him morbid, Kai just said he was a realist, Mihawk had nodded and told him yes he was a realist and thus morbid. Kai had tried to slip him hallucinogenic mushrooms again but he got caught and – rather humiliatingly – spanked by the older pirate, Kai shaved his lip ferret off for that and promptly legged it to the nearest dock and boarded a ship to some remote island. It took Mihawk a month to find him again and by that point Kai had pretty much every bandit and Yakuza on the island terrified at the mere mention of his name. The swordsman was torn between hilarity, fury and pride when he found out, he still gave his little brother a right kick up the bum when he caught up though. That had been less than dignified – but definitely not as bad as the spanking.

Vivi was still looking expectantly at him, he sighed, "Baroque Works," he reminded her flatly, watching as the blood drained from her face and her limbs seized up. Luffy was predictably infuriated, loudly vowing to track down Crocodile and beat him into a smear, unlikely, he was a Logia type, at the moment Kai was the only one capable of facing him and actually doing him some harm. Hence why he was practising with his ability more often lately, ignoring the vicious headaches it gave him, he _needed_ to get over it, needed to get better and faster and stronger if he was to have a hope in hell of defeating Crocodile.

"B-but..." she stuttered weakly.

Kai shrugged a shoulder, "That isn't what matters right now. Dory _is_," he affirmed narrowing green eyes on the Princess who jerked, shamefaced at thinking of herself when someone was possibly dying in front of her.

"Oi, Kai, can you fix him?" Luffy asked kneeling beside the older male.

The twenty-year-old shook his head, "No. These are internal injuries, blunt force trauma, burns, distending of the bowls and stomach, not to mention shock, broken bones and god knows what that explosion did to the lining of his stomach, digestive acid is probably seeping out and attacking his other organs. Chances are... he will die of mass organ failure, if shock doesn't set in first," he explained grimly, watching as Vivi's face went positively _white_ and Luffy went red with rage. "We need to keep him warm if we're going to have even a slight chance of keeping him alive. Giants have a lower body temperature than us naturally so we have to make things as hot as possible for him. Luffy go and gather some firewood, Vivi – "

The dark haired male froze as the volcano burst again, roaring into the sky again and again and again, erupting repeatedly and Kai twitched as he felt the muscles under his hand shift.

"Dory!" he shouted as the Giant heaved himself onto his hands and knees, "Dory, please! Hold still! At least let us treat your stomach injury before the Duel! Brogy would understand! He would want to fight you at your best! Winning now wouldn't be hon – "

The Giant wasn't listening, he batted Kai aside perhaps rougher than he would have anyone else but the fact remained that Kai went sailing past Luffy and Vivi, hitting the ground hard and _bouncing_ into the forest with a yelp.

Crashing through several trees, he finally got his feet under him and skidded to a stop, feet digging into the ground leaving deep gouges in the earth. Clutching at his ribs, the Pirate sank to his knees and groaned, spitting blood to the side, he wasn't made of rubber and he hadn't had a chance to set up a _Tekkai_ before he had been sent flying, the impact had prevented him from tensing his muscles enough to protect him. Now he was paying the price.

He was going to be sore for days.

"Swear to Leviathan, I'm going to spike their fucking food with Magic Mushrooms," he growled, vision wavering slightly as he pushed himself to his feet, gripping a near-by tree to steady himself before blinking blearily at the sight of a familiar face not too far ahead. "Oh, Zoro, I thought you stayed on the ship?" he asked staggering toward the swordsman before pausing and frowning.

Why wasn't he moving?

Or speaking?

* * *

The air was thick and heavy.

He couldn't move his feet – or his hands for that matter.

His whole body throbbed painfully.

Green eyes flickered open, or as best they could in the current circumstances, the white mist was somewhat problematic and... was that Brogy-san? And Zoro? What on earth?

"Mr 3, the pretty Lady's awake," a curiously flat little girl's voice announced as Kai attempted to shift himself into a sitting position only to find it quite impossible with his hands glued together behind his back and his legs equally stuck together with... it _looked_ like candle wax.

"Ah! Namikaze-san, the so called Demon of the Sea has awakened," a nasally voice exclaimed, sadistic glee practically dripping from his tone.

A rough hand gripped at his hair and Kai found himself being hauled to his feet from the ground, vision swimming slightly before sharpening to the sight of his crewmates stood on what looked like a massive cake with a spinning pumpkin on fire above them. One of the stranger sights Kai had seen in his life in the Grand Line but far from the strangest. The man with his hair tied into a number three shape with the tip of it on fire was another oddity but after meeting some of the other odd people around the Grand Line he wasn't really all that odd in comparison.

The number-three guy was eyeing him up and down before smirking, "I did wonder why Mr 0 wanted to keep you alive so much over the Princess. Surely her family's cooperation in his current endeavours would be so much more useful, but you... O-hohohoh, a little digging, a bit of unearthing and what a _gem_. Ties to the Yonkou in the New World, allied with Shichibukai, a friend in almost every port and village on the Grand Line," he listed watching as Kai's face darkened and those green-green eyes narrowed, sharpening on his face, piercing him in a fashion that the famed Mihawk was known for. This was most certainly the Swordsman's rumoured younger sibling. Galdino(2) had always believed that Mihawk's rumoured younger sibling was male from the stories that swept along the Grand Line, but meeting this person face to face, it was blatantly obvious that this creature, beautiful but sharp and almost animalistic in her features, was clearly a woman. A woman who looked alarmingly akin to that of the Shichibukai Boa Hancock. Perhaps this was not Mihawk's younger sister, but in fact his daughter? His daughter with Boa Hancock, the Snake Princess? The ages would match up; the Pirate Princess vanished for a time between the ages of 12 to 16. "Not to mention your _Gift_," he refrained from cackling as the woman paled and growled at him.

"Gift?" Miss Valentine demanded frowning, an unusual expression on the usually jovial woman's face.

"Oh yes," Mr 3 declared, "A most unusual Gift. Not only the ability to reject Devil Fruit Powers and control the water around him, but one to tame and control _Sea Kings_."

"I cannot _control_ them! And nor would I want to!" Kai snapped.

"Oi, ossan," Zoro grunted at the Giant while Kai snapped and snarled at the Baroque Works agents, "You can still move, right? I can move too," he admitted eyeing the Giant before thumbing a Katana from it's sheath, "Feel like killing these guys with me?" he asked gleefully, mouth curling into a feral grin as he unsheathed a second blade.

Startling everyone out of their conversations.

Kai couldn't help but long to go over there and crack Zoro over the head, cutting off his own feet? Good grief, why must every solution to a simple problem be so drastic for him? And what the hell? Brogy was going to join in!

"IM GUNNA KICK YOUR ASSES!"

And there went Luffy, completely missing them entirely as he flew to the otherside of the clearing.

Typical.

Why did he join this crew again?

Ah yes, he was terminally stupid, or insane, it was hard to tell these days.

* * *

This is what Kai got for trying to help.

"Why you – bitch! _Kyandoru jaketsu!_" Kai grunted as he found himself being flung backwards in a thick torrent of wax.

He hit the ground hard, his already battered body slumping weakly as the wax restraints forced his head down to the ground as it solidified over the back of his back and knees, pinning him in place flat on the ground, unable to move – or bite him again.

While everyone's attention was on Luffy, Kai had attempted to help his Captain in what little way he could by rocking onto his feet and then launching himself at Mr 3, sinking his teeth into the Candleman's ankle successfully distracting him but apparently not long enough for Luffy to get an attack in before Kai found himself being restrained face down.

"Someone is going to die for this," he growled under his breath, squirming as best he could with the Candle Lock's on his feet and hands and the cuffs on his neck and knees.

What was this? Some cheap B-rated harem-slave pornography play from Akasango Island?(3)

* * *

He could feel the heat from the flames from where he was but... no matter how much be squirmed, the Wax remained rock hard and his body just hurt too much to muster up any kind of sizeable power – he could tell that he was pretty badly bruised from his encounter with Dory.

He could hear the commotion but apart from spotting a fireball that looked remarkably like Zoro shoot past, he couldn't see anything through his hair or from the angle at which he had been restrained.

He twitched when he heard what was undoubtedly a sniffle coming from Brogy.

A sniffle that turned into a sob and then into full on bawling wails.

He twitched and squirmed that little bit more rapidly when he felt the grass begin to dampen.

"O-Oi! Guys! Little help here!" he called as the grass became sodden, "OI!" he shouted as the water level rose to the point were he had to turn his head into a rather painful angle to prevent it from getting up his nose or in his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, hold still," the familiar gruff tones of the person who was now officially his favourite swordsman in the whole world!

"OW! OW OW! Zoro! Ow my neck!" the smaller male yelped as a pair of calloused hands tried to lift him up, unmindful of the wax band at the back of his neck.

"Hmm, you're well and truly stuck, aren't you?" the green haired male mused slowly.

"Drowning as well," Kai added scornfully, squirming irritably from his position, "That wax stuff is tied up in my hair too, just cut it off and yank it out of the ground," he stated with a huff, head splashing down into the puddle of tears.

"You sure?" Zoro asked doubtfully, was that actually a note of concern in his voice? Nah, his ears were playing tricks on him – though if they really wanted to play a cool trick they could block out Brogy's wailing.

Kai blew a wet strand of hair from his face, "Yes, it'll grow back tomorrow anyway," he grunted, feeling the swordsman's hands gathering up the long mess of black strands and then gently sliding a blade – he was using the Kitetsu to cut his hair? - against the back of his neck and pulling up. Kai remained perfectly still as he felt the change in the weight of his head and the chill that invaded the back of his neck, a bare moment later he was holding his breath and pressing down against the earth as Zoro finally wrenched the Wax bar out of the earth. The twelve inch prongs bringing with them a hail of dirt and grass roots, not to mention the majority of Kai's hair, some of it still attached.

Kai lifted his head, gasping for air as Brogy's tears drenched his front.

"Thanks," he muttered sitting up as best he could with his hands, feet and knees still bound. The look on Zoro's face was... interesting to say the least. A mixture of alarmed, confused and... he couldn't name that one, he couldn't recognise it. "What?" he demanded, slightly self conscious he already felt entirely too top-light without his hair and now he was more aware than ever that he probably looked like someone's kid sister desperately hoping for puberty to kick in.

"Ah, nothing. Hold your arms out," the swordsman ordered, giving the Kitetsu a slight wave to get his meaning across.

Kai huffed but did as he was told – anything was better than being stuck in this undignified position.

* * *

The look on Sanji's face when he saw Kai's new haircut just made him all the more self conscious about the change in his appearance.

"Look, would you guys stop looking at me like that?" he growled, "It'll grow back by tomorrow, anyway."

Negatives aside, it looked as though Dory was a lot hardier than Kai had been expecting, the internal injuries from the exploding Ale seemed to have been minor, even that blow he took from Brogy had simply knocked him unconscious instead of killing him like everyone had assumed. Kai could only shake his head and swipe one of the rice crackers while Usopp and Luffy wrestled, his whole body was still very sore and the bruises were a lovely purplish green colour that splashed across his body in great big swaths from where he hit the ground and then slammed through trees. Thankfully the wax restraints hadn't left anything like a rope burn – he'd had more experience than he would ever admit to when it came to rope burn.

Sanji had even gotten a hold of an Eternal Pose to Arabasta.

* * *

"See for yourself! _Mine_ is much bigger!" Zoro snarled.

"Just _look_ at it! My Lizard wins!" the blond Cook sneered pointing down at the carcasses they were stood upon.

Kai sighed from where he was sitting gingerly on a barrel, the moment they got to open sea – and passed the Island Eater – he was going to grab a long hot bath and deal with those bruises. After he got Luffy and Sanji to help him pin Zoro down so he could stitch those horrid slices in his ankles up.

He pretty much tuned out the whole argument until he heard someone call his name, "Eh? Say again?" he asked, peering at the two owlishly.

"You can tell my Rhino is way bigger can't you!" Zoro exclaimed pointing down at the two bodies.

Kai sighed, "In terms of weight, yes Zoro, your Triceratops wins. In terms of meat that can be used, Sanji's Rex wins. In terms of difficulty to kill, you win and in terms of sheer danger Sanji wins," he listed tiredly, "You both win and you both lose. Now slice and dice the bitches and get on board already. You need your ankles sewn up and I want a bath afterwards," he added giving Zoro a familiar piercing glare – absently the swordsman wondered if Kai was related to Hawk Eyes before brushing the idea off as ridiculous.

The two men only hopped to when Nami roared at them to get a move on, again proving that behind every powerful man was a terrifying woman.

* * *

Catching Zoro to stitch his ankles up was a task in and of itself.

Thankfully though, Kai had a few very willing volunteers to help him pin the swordsman down.

Luffy thought it would be great fun and threw himself into the task, Sanji was up for anything that would humiliate Zoro – Kai could have sworn he overheard Vivi and Nami refer to the two as squabbling brothers amidst a flurry of giggles – and Usopp looked a little ill at the thought of the green haired male walking around on feet that he had attempted to cut off and only gotten half way through with.

So in all, Zoro found himself belly down on the deck with Sanji sat on his shoulders, Usopp and Luffy holding down each arm and Kai sat on the back of his legs stabbing him with needles while Vivi, Nami and Carue looked on in amusement as the green haired swordsman snarled through gritted teeth and tried to throw them all off.

"Oh stop being such a baby!" Kai snapped, "You can take cutting them open but you can't handle getting sewn back up?" he demanded disbelievingly before stabbing his big toe with the needle, smirking at the yelp the swordsman choked out, "Consider this Pain Tolerance training," he teased before sewing up the last inch of skin.

Zoro growled out a number of rather vile curse words that had Usopp turning pink while Sanji and Luffy started to laugh, Kai merely snorted as he bandaged him up.

"I most likely am a bastard if what little memories I have of my childhood suggest," he told the East Blue native, stabbing his toe with the needle again. "But you don't need to tell everyone about it now, do you?" he asked sweetly amidst the laughter of the other boys. "You're all done now anyway," he stated nudging Sanji with an elbow, "You can let him up now guys."

Still chortling, Luffy and Usopp released the swordsman as Sanji got to his feet, Kai a little slower due to how sore he was – which probably attributed to his capture.

It took all of a split second.

Kai squeaked as he found tanned arms promptly lifting him up and then throwing him overboard.

"DAMNIT RORONOA!"

_**SPLASH**_

Next time Kai had to play doctor to that bastard, he was employing the Mihawk Method – get him stoned and tie him down, when you're done, draw on his face in markers and take lots of pictures for future blackmail.

* * *

"Two thousand, six hundred and three. Two thousand, six hundred and four. Two thousand, six hundred and five. Two thousand, six hundred and six," Zoro grunted hefting the massive weights up and down, moving carefully on his bandaged ankles – after pulling himself back on board Kai had given him some _very_ sharp words in regards to opening up the stitches again. Zoro didn't catch all of them, his mind kind of wondered off after the word '_spanking_' was mentioned, he tuned in just in time to hear the threat of castration though and nodded swiftly.

"Here," he glanced up from his Obsessive Compulsive Training to see the small plate of snacks being held out by the object of his thoughts, "Sanji made food and you've been working out for a while. You need the energy," the dark haired male pointed out, still looking exceptionally strange and disturbingly young with his new choppy cut short hair, several longer strands falling haphazardly around his face and snaking down his neck.

Zoro grunted and nodded to the railings where the older male simply rolled his eyes and set them down before sitting down as well.

"If you won't rest you'll do yourself a mischief, Zoro. Too much training can be a negative, you know," he pointed out carefully.

"If I'd been able to cut through that Wax," Zoro panted as he hefted the ridiculously huge and heavy weights again, "I wouldn't have... held everyone back!" he grit out, "I'm weak... I must become stronger!" he grunted, sweat dripping from his hair as Kai watched and nibbled on one of the fancies Sanji had made, fighting not to roll his eyes, "Until I can slash through stuff like that Wax in _any_ stance!"

Kai blew a strand of hair from his face, "Alright," he agreed softly enough, when a Swordsman got it into his or her head to get to that next level, nothing short of knocking them unconscious or hog tying them was going to stop them from training until they either tore every muscle and ground their bones to dust or reached that next level. "Just... Take a break when you reach that point alright? It's not fun when you train yourself to the point of damage, my brother nearly killed me with training and it took me over two months to recover."

Zoro glanced at him, "Your brother a swordsman?" he asked curiously, he'd been getting that feeling from what Kai let slip about the man, he must have been one hell of a swordsman if Kai's current skill level was anything to go by.

He nodded, "Yes, they both are. Niisama and Aniki," Aniki of course being Shanks, "Back when they were younger they had this rivalry that echoed throughout the Grand Line every time they clashed swords," he explained smiling fondly, "They don't fight so much these days, Aniki's more interested in getting shit-faced and having a good time while Niisama usually ends up either working or falling face first into some cleavage at a ratty brothel somewhere," he chuckled waving a hand.

Zoro snorted, "Know from experience, do you?" he grunted hefting the weights again.

Kai gave him a wry grin, "I know pretty much every prostitute by name this side of the Grand Line, at least, the decent ones you need to pay over six figures to get in bed with anyway," he admitted scratching at his hair.

"And you're a virgin?" Zoro asked sceptically.

The dark haired male snorted, "Those girls are actually the best information gatherers I've ever met. They had a lot more to teach me than techniques in the sack – though they did try to tell me about those too," he admitted with a fond snort, "Akitsuki-chan even totted out diagrams, I think Niisama tipped her 30,000,000 Belli just for that alone," he admitted laughing.

Zoro snorted as he worked the weights, he had to admit, Kai's brother certainly sounded like an interesting character, a lot like what he remembered of his father too(4).

"Everyone, come quick!" the pair looked up sharply at Vivi's yell, "There's trouble!"

"Why? What's wrong, Vivi?" Luffy demanded his voice muffled with food as Kai hopped off the railings and made his way to the main deck, Zoro setting his weights down and following close behind.

"Nami-san's come down with a high fever!" the aqua haired Princess exclaimed.

"NAMI-SAN HAS _WHAT!_"

**

* * *

**

(1) Euhelopus, a breed of long necked Dinosaur that matched the one Luffy was bouncing around on in the Manga –

http : / en (dot) wikipedia (dot) org/ wiki/Euhelopus

**(2) Galdino –** Mr 3's real name, all the Baroque Works characters have real names. All the male Officer Agents are numbers while the women are named after holidays, each member is paired off in a way that compliments their abilities. Like Miss Goldenweek and Mr 3, they're an Art Duo. Not sure about what Miss Valentine and Mr 5 are about but meh.

**(3) Akasango –** Crimson Coral, the name of an island that Kai is acquainted with through Mihawk and his... escapades. Well known for having a seedy underbelly that pretty much puts Sabaody to shame, anything can be bought or found within her Black Markets. Original island. Might be explored in later chapters. ;D

**(4) Zoro's father –** Well he had to have come from somewhere. Obviously an OC, might be explored in later chapters.

**

* * *

**

Whew, this chapter – while being the shortest so far – actually took the longest to write. XDD Ironic huh? The date is... March 13th 2010 as I write this. Currently in bed with a busted foot – Kick boxing accident, split the skin between my toes half a cm deep and can't actually walk, watch me

_**hobble at the speed of an old lady!**_

**Again, special thanks to my ever lovely beta Stalker of Stories – go and give her love!**

Araceil

**Foot is fine now 8)**


	11. Overhaul

**THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER.**

**But please read as it is important.**

You guys know how fussy I am when it comes to my writing. I'm sure more than a few of you have snorted or laughed at me when I complained about how many times I've rewritten a chapter because I didn't like it or scolded me in your heads for not updating sooner because I've just been unable to crank out something I considered acceptable.

Well, it'll be a massive endeavour and I'm sure more than a few of you will be pissed off with me for it.

**But I'm giving Ignition a massive overhaul**.

My followers on Facebook are already aware, I've been asking for opinions and thoughts on the whole matter but I know a lot of my readers haven't added me on Facebook or just don't have a Facebook account – Stuff on High knows I didn't until a few months ago when my boyfriend sat me down in front of the laptop and refused to stop tickling me until I agreed to sign up.

So far, the pairings are remaining the same (Zoro/Harry for the most part with hinted Franky/Robin, Paulie/Nami and Luffy/Hancock). Harry's power over water remains along with his lack of memories – to tell all of you now, I never had any intention of returning Harry's memories to him at all. The memory loss was brought on by brain damage, damage that gets worse whenever he uses magic, thus meaning that ten years from Ignition, he won't even remember how he met the Strawhats. I'll explain that fully at a later point. He'll still be skilled with a variety of weapons but I'm going to downplay that to only a select handful of them, that still won't include swords XDD

Pretty much everything else is changing.

I'm removing his previous history with Shanks and Mihawk – unless you guys are insistent on it remaining. His appearance will have some slight alterations, less like Hancock. His backstory will change drastically.

As for the story, this is where I leave it to you guys. You're the readers, Ignition is something I started for my own pleasure but when I reread it recently, I could only get incredibly angry with myself for how Gary Stu it ended up. Hence, **I want this to be a join effort between myself and my readers. **

We'll work together to make something really awesome. So.

I'd like you to give me ideas, scenes, whatever. Choose a point for how Harry could come to meet the Strawhats, when, where, what arc, how.

When should the Wizards come to fetch their Saviour? What should happen in the arcs that Harry's there for – should he allow things to play out as is or try to change everything drastically?

Drop me a review, a PM, an email or even hit me on Facebook – the link is on my profile.


	12. Chapter 10

IGNITION

**Chapter Ten**

**THE REWRITE - REIGNITION - HAS BEEN POSTED. I'm just putting up all the chapters I had already written but never gotten around to posting. In all, four chapters. Enjoy.**

* * *

Nami's illness was severe.

Kai bit his lower lip as he smoothed sodden ginger hair from her face and laid out a fresh cold compress, he didn't agree with Vivi's diagnosis of Grand Line Fever, Nami was too good of a navigator, too skilled at reading and understanding air currents for the stress of the ever changing climates to affect her health. No, there was something else working against her in this case, the problem was that her symptoms didn't match _anything_ he was familiar with, not even in the Plagues that he had only heard of. He knew that in terms of medical knowledge, what he knew amounted to mostly basic Trauma Surgery and general first aid, but he was well read and he had seen various plagues and illnesses throughout the Grand Line.

The current weather told him they were approaching a Winter Island, hopefully they would have a Doctor worth his or her salt that could help.

Nami's temperature had increased again; she was burning up at 42-degrees Celsius.

"Vivi, could you change her clothes please?" he asked the young Arabastian, "I'm going to get some water so we can clean her up some," he told her, waiting for the aqua haired sixteen year old to nod before making his way out of the room.

Dodging past Sanji was a little more difficult – it took physically kicking him into the railings to make him back off long enough for Kai to draw up some water, filter it and bring it to the kitchen so it could be heated – he wasn't going to fire up Merry's Boiler for just a bucket.

Normally, Kai would leave the room to allow Vivi to clean Nami up, but that was when the thief still had enough strength and consciousness to support herself. Now it was a two person job.

That was when Kai saw it.

"Vivi, stop! Wait, what's that?" he demanded grabbing the girl's wrist as she wiped the other girl down, eyes locked on the thief's stomach – specifically the large pus filled swelling surrounded by angry red flesh. "You didn't notice this before?" he asked the Princess in disbelief.

Vivi pinkened, "Nami-san told me it was just a bug bite, that she'd scratched it, it wasn't this bad when I first saw it! Just a little red mark," she explained dark eyes lingering on the angry looking insect bite.

"And you didn't think to tell me?" he asked weakly before shaking his head and waving the question off, "Never mind. We know about it now and I think I know a way of buying us some more time to find a Doctor. With her symptoms the way they are now I wouldn't give her more than another two days," Vivi paled, "but, with this we might be able to buy some more time. Go to Sanji, get a bucket and a knife he doesn't mind giving up, also, a candle too."

"Why?" the younger girl asked tensing the moment a knife was mentioned.

Kai looked at her, "You ever been bitten by a snake?" he asked at the shake of her head he rolled a shoulder, "This is an old method of dealing with snake bites, get a knife, cut open the bite and suck the poison out. Very old fashioned but it works. Considering the pus build up around that bite I would say that this is the source of Nami's illness. It'll buy us some time, it won't cure her, this is the best I can do for now. Remember, it's got to be a knife he doesn't mind losing – we're chucking everything that her blood and that gunk touches. I may end up sick as well so you guys had better find a Doctor quickly," he added seriously.

"You'll get sick too?" Vivi asked weakly before shaking her head frantically at his nod, "Kai-san we can't afford to have both of you sick at the same time!" she exclaimed.

"Do you want to get to Arabasta or not?" Kai snapped, he knew that playing on her love for her country was both cruel and uncalled for, but if this kept Nami alive long enough to find a competent Doctor then to hell with what happened to him.

Vivi jerked back, lower lip trapped between her teeth, guilt stabbed at Kai for all of a split second before the younger girl was on her feet and running from the room, Kai sighed softly and ran a hand through Nami's hair.

"Don't worry, you'll be alright. We both will," he told her soothingly, quickly drying her before she caught a chill – unlikely with how high her temperature was – and dressed her in fresh pyjamas just as Sanji and Zoro burst in with Vivi in tow.

"You're going to do _what!_" the two men roared, Zoro even going so far as to grab him by the shoulders and haul him to his feet, shaking him roughly.

Kai shot the Princess a glare.

"I'm going to buy us some time," he stated firmly smacking Zoro's hands off his shoulders with a pointed glower.

"By making yourself sick?" Sanji barked, cigarette threatening to fly out from his mouth.

"If it keeps Nami alive long enough to find a Doctor then _yes!_" Kai snarled in return, "Now, do you have what I asked for or not?" he bit out testily.

"Absolutely not," Zoro growled, "One sick person is more than – ack!" the swordsman stumbled backwards choking as Kai's fingers jabbed against his Adam's apple and Sanji jerked back with a brief curse of surprise – he hadn't even seen the other male _move_. Zoro hissed as he suddenly found himself being jerked down to eye level with the smaller Pirate.

"Don't presume to tell me what to do, Roronoa," the older male seethed, "There is a _chance _that I may become sick. The cause of Nami's illness is an insect bite. Whether the bite itself is infectious or it just became so on its own doesn't matter. What _does_ is that her temperature is so high that it is literally _cooking_ her internal organs. Three days from now and she _will_ die," Kai determined grimly, glaring into the larger man's startled black eyes, "With this technique, I can perhaps buy a few more days, two at the most, for you guys to find a Doctor capable of healing her _and_ me if I catch it as well. So stop trying to get in my way and get your ass in that crow's nest and _start LOOKING!_" he roared releasing the swordsman and kicking him towards the stairs. "There's a Winter Island nearby! They must have a Doctor bundled away _somewhere_!"

Zoro grunted as he stumbled into the stairs, looking over his shoulder at the older male who glared at him with piercing green eyes.

He opened his mouth to argue but shuddered almost painfully as _something_ filled the room, a weight, Kai's eyes narrowed on him and he merely grunted sourly and stalked out of the room. Obviously arguing with the other male was pointless at this point in time, and forcibly trying to stop him would just be an exercise in his groin being bruised and his face meeting the ceiling at great speeds when he got kicked into the air.

"Sanji," Kai bit out turning to the Cook who blinked owlishly at him before thrusting out a bucket, his face a little pale. Kai nodded at him in thanks, taking the bucket and examining the knife and candle he had inside, "Thanks," the black haired male muttered, guilt stabbing at him for using his power on Zoro like that, it needed to be done though otherwise the swordsman was _never_ going to leave and let him do what he needed to. He was stubborn like that – just like Mihawk.

Sanji nodded and stood at the back of the room, anxiously lighting another cigarette just to keep his slightly shaking hands busy. He'd never felt anything like that before in his life, it felt as though the very air around him were thick with death or... something _else_.

He swallowed nervously as he watched Kai gently lift Nami's shirt up and hold the tip of the knife over the candle he just lit waiting patiently as it heated up. The Cook chewed uncomfortably on his cigarette filter as Kai finally withdrew the glowing blade tip and nodded to Vivi who shifted and held Nami down at the shoulders, "Don't lose your grip," he told the Princess before flicking the blade through the swollen flesh.

Nami cried out, a weak cry and sob mixed together as the slice dribbled with yellowish white pus, Sanji nearly bit through his filter, it was only the equally uncomfortable look on Kai's face that prevented the Cook from marching over there and kicking his skull into the wall. Kai dropped the knife into the bucket and used a spare scrap of cloth to mop away the majority of the pus before giving Vivi a weak smile and placing his mouth over the oozing slice, sucking out the foul mixture of blood and pus before spitting it into the bucket when he felt his gag reflex kick in.

Leviathan that stuff was _foul_!

But he kept going. Kept sucking on the cut and spitting into the bucket as Nami squirmed and whimpered, panting heavily as Vivi prevented her from moving and injuring herself until he could taste nothing by ordinary copper blood and pulled back. "Done. Sanji, pass me the roll of bandages and cotton wool on the table," he told the Cook, holding his hand out.

"Ah, sure, here," the blond quickly grabbed the requested objects and watched nervously as Kai gently placed the cotton wool over the injury and then wrapped it in the bandages.

"It still needs to drain a little. I think I managed to buy us some time. Change the cotton wool every three to six hours until the wound seals and then slow it to once every eight to twelve. I'm going to chuck this and then wash my mouth out. Sanji, that alcohol in the kitchen, mind if I finish it?" the green eyed Pirate asked slowly getting to his feet and trying not to swallow against the tacky foul taste in his mouth.

"No, go ahead."

Nodding, Kai quickly made his way out of Nami's room and out onto deck, shivering in the cold he smiled at Usopp as he threw the bucket, knife, cloth and mixture of blood and puss overboard, before making his way to the kitchen, he could see Zoro bundled up in a large blanket up in the Crow's nest but looked away guiltily before the swordsman could feel his eyes on him. Ducking into the kitchen, Kai found the bottle of cooking brandy that Sanji used for the food last night before making his way back outside and down into the bathroom. He desperately needed to clean his mouth out – alcohol would kill any bacteria, the stronger the better.

He'd just finished and returned to Nami's room when the whole boat tipped violently.

Nausea lifted his stomach as his feet suddenly weren't under him, green eyes widened as he slipped and fell, twisting his body he struck the side of the stairs with a pain filled grunt, all the air driving out of his lungs, even as Sanji roared at the boys upstairs to hold the ship steady while he held Nami's bed aloft to prevent anything from disturbing her.

Kai gasped fighting to drag in air as his vision blurred and spun, distantly he could hear someone shouting outside as Sanji told Vivi to keep an eye on Nami as he ran out.

Kai pushed himself upright, trying to shake away his blurry vision, it wasn't going.

And it still felt like he wasn't getting enough air into his lungs.

His ears felt hot.

Then came the sound of gunshots.

Dimly he was aware of Vivi racing out of the room but he... he couldn't see her... was this the infection or was it his brief tumble down the stairs causing this?

No, no this was the infection; why else would he feel so hot?

"Crap," he murmured pulling himself upright, swaying dangerously as he stumbled his way to Nami's bed. "Looks like we both need a Doctor now, Na-chan," he panted feeling tired already. God, had she fallen sick this quickly too?

No, no she hadn't, her immune system had managed to fight it off for a time before it seemingly became overwhelmed, Kai's on the other hand... Crap, just another sign of his difference, his Immune system didn't seem to even register the infection or try to fight it, or it was and just didn't know how to. Gods it was hot.

Carue crooned unhappily dragging a blanket over his knees, he smiled and patted the Duck's bill, "Thanks Carue, do us a favour? If Zoro says '_Told you so_' peck him for me, yeah?" he asked weakly smirking slightly at the nod the Duck gave him. "Thanks, I think... I think I'll just have a lie down, tell Vivi I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful," he whispered, eyes heavy.

The Duck nudged him gently, crooning worriedly as the dark haired male fell still, a flush beginning to colour his cheeks and forehead.

* * *

Someone was touching him.

Green eyes snapped open – unmindful of his blurred vision as he automatically snatched at the hand hovering over him, a girl yelped in alarm as he turned his head to look at her, vision so blurry and hazy that all he could make out was an aqua coloured blob.

"Who... Where the hell am I?" he growled, his head felt like soup and his brain several sizes too big and too hot, his whole body felt too hot, he was tired, so very tired, where was his brother? He couldn't sense that bastard anywhere near by, who were these people? "Who are you? Where's my brother?" he grit out forcing himself to sit upright, vision spinning painfully.

"Kai-san, please! You have to lie down, you're very sick!" the girl tried to explain, wincing visibly as Kai tightened his grip.

"I'm fine," he bit out, no, no he really wasn't but _she_ didn't need to know that, "Where am I and _where is he_?" he demanded kicking the heavy blankets aside and suddenly feeling light headed and sick to his stomach.

Vivi squeaked as the painful grip on her wrist became lax, the dark haired male wavering as he slumped forward against her shoulder. When he'd woken up, she hadn't expected him to be so out of it that he didn't remember where he was or who they were, that feeling as well... the same dark pressure that filled the room when Mr Bushido tried to stop him from helping Nami had practically choked her, making it difficult to breathe as she managed to choke out an explanation. She didn't know what kind of immune system he had, but apparently it wasn't able to combat this illness with any kind of success, his condition had worsened considerably during the night.

"Vivi-chan! Are you alright?" Sanji demanded bursting into the room just as Kai slipped out of consciousness again, a faint plea for his older brother falling from his lips so quietly the Princess almost missed it.

"Yes, Sanji-san. I'm alright, Kai-san just... he didn't recognise where he was and got a bit unsettled," she explained delicately as she set the older man back into his bedding. Her wrist throbbed painfully as a reminder of just how powerful the other male's grip was, even when weak with illness.

The blond cook stared at the blue haired girl for a moment before looking down at the dark haired male; his face screwed up with pain and flushed red. He grunted in frustration, he couldn't even hate the damn _Wana _for being rude to Vivi-chan because he was sick and apparently delirious.

Still, it was almost worth it to see Carue attack that Marimo when he muttered the words '_Told You So_'.

* * *

Foggy green eyes cracked open, gods it was hot.

The world around him was blurry and... No, he couldn't sense his brother anywhere.

"Nnn..." he groaned, forcing his heavy limbs to move, why was he so tired? He hadn't felt this bad since he caught that Plague on Sunflower Island, but his brother had been there the whole time, lurking sourly in the corner and grumbling about troublesome little brothers and Doctors who didn't know what they were doing. Where was he? "Niisa... ma..." he whispered, weakly attempting to push himself upright.

He was in a bed, a bed with a woman... who... her hair was orange? Orange... _Harry – oh, Harry – I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy. It was _me, _Harry – but I – I s-swear I d-didn't mean to – R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over – and – _how _did you kill that – that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary –_

"Kai-san! You're awake!" an exuberant voice crowed.

Hazy green eyes turned slowly to the source, red blur, and... He felt familiar... a little like... Shanks?

"Wuh-where's Niisama?" he whispered, panting weakly.

"Nya? Your brother? Dunno," the same voice exclaimed, "But we're going to climb a mountain to get you and Nami to a doctor!"

Kai groaned and shook his head, no, no doctors, no labs, his breathing picked up, no, where was his brother? _Where was Mihawk? Where was he? _Panic began to set in. Kai could feel his head throbbing as the world spun.

"Hey, you need to rest, your temperature is 40-degrees, go to sleep," a different voice told him, slightly rough, accompanied by the smell of cigarette smoke.

"N-no, whe – " Kai never got to finish his sentence as the world tipped alarmingly and darkness swallowed his eyes.

Sanji sighed and moved to get a large enough branch so that he could carry the idiot up the mountain; his body was somewhat stronger than Nami's so at least he wouldn't be stuck in a non-combative role while carrying the other male.

_

* * *

_

They're my Nakama.

Warmth.

Soft.

_Doctorine – antibody – female._

_Yes – should be._

Pain.

Pain.

Heat.

Hot.

_Allergic reaction!_

_Full – check – not normal._

_Operate – shock!_

_Full – examination, need to – cause – origins unknown._

_Difference in – unusual bone structure – blood type – _

_This – trick._

Peace.

Kai slept.

* * *

Somehow, regardless of how loud Sanji and Luffy got while chasing that poor reindeer around the castle and then fighting outside, Kai did not stir in the slightest.

Nami envied him if only for that, she could barely sleep with the racket those guys were making.

On the other hand, the reason why Kai could sleep through the noise was because he was suffering from an allergic reaction to the medication Doctorine used to cure the Kestia Bacteria, he ended up going into severe Anaphylactic Shock and suffering seizures – hence the bruises on his hands and wrists from where he had to be restrained. The two Doctors worked through the night to not only produce a full and entire physical on the long haired male but to also produce a variation of the medication to deal with the Kestia. Nami could only shake her head, her crewmate needed intensive observation and medical help over the next two days if he was even going to have the slightest chance of survival.

Two days... They didn't have that kind of time to sit around. They _needed_ to get to Arabasta A.S.A.P.

But it wasn't like they could just leave Kai behind – and it wasn't like Doctorine was going to allow her to escape for another two days _either_.

The ginger haired thief sighed quietly, placing a hand on her forehead, "My fever's gone down a lot. At this rate I should be able to return to the ship soon," she decided before leaning over the side of the bed and pressing a hand against Kai's brow, the other Pirate laid out on a futon at right angles with her bed so that both of them could be treated at the same time. She hummed thoughtfully, it was still fairly high. Tolerable, but high. He would probably need more time to recover but...

They couldn't _afford_ that time.

They had to escape, now, Kai would have plenty of time to recover on the way to Arabasta, Nami would make sure of it. She nodded to herself, already beginning plans on moving his belongings into the room she was sharing with Vivi, that way he would rest properly. She would talk Sanji into making sure his food was the best he could possibly make it and she wouldn't allow anyone to interfere with him – he had put himself in this situation just to buy some _time_ for her, really, Doctorine had been both disgusted and slightly amazed by the fact that the other male would do something as stupid as attempt to treat a Kestia Infection like a Snake Bite. It had bought her time as well, an extra day, the '_Five Day Sickness_' had been lengthened by a good twenty hours just via removing the built up infection around the bite according to Doctorine. Unfortunately, because Kai had ingested it, the infection began that much more quickly for him.

"Ne, Kai, wake up," the Thief urged, gently pushing on the green eyed male's shoulder, "We have to head back to the Merry now," she told him as she peeled back his blankets.

"Na...mi," he mumbled in recognition, hazy eyes squinting at her. "Where... I thought I was..." he muttered pushing himself upright as the younger girl stole a dark green dressing gown and wrapped it around his shoulders, "I could have sworn... Niisama was..."

She shook her head, "No, just you and me. Luffy and Sanji are causing trouble outside, at least like this we can escape those Doctors," she explained wrapping herself up in a second dressing gown, this one pale lilac with a white fur trim, "C'mon, we need to get Vivi to Arabasta. You can sleep all you like on the Ship. I'll even make sure Sanji gives you the best food," she told him hefting the shorter male up. He was pretty much holding his own weight but using her as a balance, breathing hard, she could feel his fever through their clothes and felt a sharp stab of guilt for pushing him like this when he was so obviously unwell.

"Arabasta?" he asked softly, "Oh, Vivi. I... I hurt her... earlier... I didn't... mean to," he mumbled as Nami led him to the door.

"Mm, you can apologise later," she told him, Kai wouldn't have hurt Vivi without a reason, she remembered being delirious at one point when she'd woken up, thought she'd heard Bellemere speaking to her, chances were that was what happened with Kai.

Pushing against the door, she shivered slightly as the cold wind swept up her legs.

"AHHHHHHHHH-HAHAHA!"

Nami blinked, her eyes widening at the sight of the metal plated fat man down below her, that... that was the face of an enemy.

"Now, then," he began, "Would you be one of Strawhat's nakama?" he asked, eyeing her with what was distinctly an unfriendly expression. In fact... she could have sworn he wanted to _eat_ her.

"No," she refuted flatly, "I'm just a passing Navigator. My sister and I got sick and the Doctor living here's been taking care of us," she lied.

"I'll kick your ass for that one later," Kai whispered sagging against her; Nami had to refrain from giggling.

"What? Really? I was wrong?" the man exclaimed, seemingly genuinely shocked.

"That's right," Nami confirmed nodding as she shifted her grip on Kai who shuddered slightly in her grasp, "If you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way now. My sister still isn't doing so well," she declared marching off with her '_sister_'.

"Sure," the man replied smiling.

A split second later he was behind them having clambered up the wall, "LIAR!" he roared charging after them, "YOU HIPPO! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" he bellowed as Nami screamed and bolted, dragging Kai along with her into a stumbling run as the two of them raced towards the stairs.

"H-he has the power of a Devil Fruit," Kai realised as they watched him _eat himself_ to get down the gap in the stairwell.

"_**Slim-Up Wapol!**_" he declared, his body reforming as much taller and thinner than before, Kai shook his head as his vision blurred, "You're not going anywhere," he rumbled before launching himself at the two of them.

"NOOO!" Nami wailed turning and running, now half carrying Kai as she tried to escape.

"I'll start my feast with you!" he exclaimed gleefully, tackling into the pair from behind, sending Kai sprawling out several feet away while he straddled Nami's back cackling.

"FOUND YOOOOOU!" Luffy crowed gleefully, slamming his foot into the thin man's face – stamping him into the wall behind them.

Kai panted, trying to push himself up onto his hands and knees, his body throbbing as his vision went blurry again, his body slumped, falling face down into the snow as he passed out again.

* * *

The sky was pink when Kai next opened his eyes.

He stared.

It was cold, he could hear the others laughing and cheering, Luffy was singing, he could smell beer on the air and the sky was lit up in pink while he was bundled up in so many blankets and jackets it was a little ridiculous. Slowly levering himself up into a sitting position he stared around the room hazily, this was... the Going Merry's kitchen...

He lay back down, smiling slightly at the cheering and raucous laughter he could hear outside.

He drifted back to sleep not long before Merry swept out of Drum's Magnetic Field.

* * *

When Kai next awoke it was to the familiar breakfast rabble that permeated the kitchen, he was still quite tired but for now his stomach was reminding him that he hadn't actually eaten anything since he'd fallen sick – and fighting infections took a lot of energy.

"Hey, guess who's awake!" Nami exclaimed happily catching sight of him sitting up. "You alright?" she asked getting to her feet, a strange creature already scuttling over to his side.

"Yeah," Kai admitted, watching the little being with open curiosity, it looked like a reindeer but it also looked a bit like a Tanuki... "Who is this though?" he asked nodding to the little creature.

"He's our new Nakama," Luffy explained cheerfully, bouncing over and plunking himself down at the foot of Kai's makeshift bed, "Here! You need meat! Meat makes everything better!" the simple minded Pirate exclaimed, thrusting out his half eaten meat-shank. Blinking blearily, Kai accepted it and began to nibble, perfectly seasoned as was expected of Sanji's cooking, but it didn't change the fact that he still felt tired and achy.

"This is Tony Tony Chopper, Kai. He's our new Doctor, he's been nursing you since we left Drum Island," the ginger haired thief explained, planting a hand on the furry creature's shoulder.

"I see, thank you, Chopper-sensei," the long haired male said, smiling tiredly at the little creature.

Chopper stiffened and snarled at him, "Shut up, you bastard!" he exclaimed, dancing happily, clapping his hooves together, "Calling me Doctor... Won't make me happy, asshole," he added.

Kai blinked at him and then looked at Nami, "Someone who can't hide their feelings well?" he asked lightly, getting an amused nod from the girl. He chuckled, "Thank you anyway."

Chopper nodded, "You're not finished yet. You had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics we used, your body still needs a lot of rest," he said fluffing up the make-shift pillow, "Doctorine and I had to give you a full physical to find out how to help you, it took longer than it should of and the Kestia infection progressed alarmingly far before we were able to calm it. You still have the Bacteria in your system," the Reindeer explained gesturing at the older male to lie down.

"I see, that explains why I feel so rotten," Kai muttered, pulling the blankets up to his chin as he fell back.

"Wouldn't feel so bad if you'd just listened to me earlier," Zoro growled from the table, not looking up from his food.

"Zoro!" Nami snapped glaring at him.

Kai hissed irritably, pushing himself upright, "What? Going to say '_I told you so_' now?" he bit out, ignoring Chopper as the reindeer told him to lie down and not to strain himself.

"Stop it, the both of you!" Nami barked only to be ignored.

"How juvenile can you get, Roronoa?" the long haired male snapped, "What do you think would have happened to Nami if the Doctors there didn't have the antibiotic she needed? They would have had to make it from scratch, that would have taken time she didn't have!"

"Kai-san, please! You need to rest!" Vivi exclaimed.

Zoro was on his feet, "So that justifies you putting yourself in the exact same position and putting _everyone_ in the crew at more risk by adding another burden?" he grit out, "Do you think Luffy or the idiot Love Cook would have been so badly injured if they'd had an extra hand against those Rabbits or Wapol?"

"Oi, Marimo, that's taking things a bit far," Sanji bit out around his cigarette, scowling at the Baka Kenshin. Honestly, he was just _looking_ for a fight at this point in time, he'd been fidgety and snappish ever since Kai had fallen ill, the only time when he seemed to be even slightly normal was while he was training and his mind was focused solely on that.

Luffy blinked at the argument while Chopper was trying to stop Kai from climbing out of the bed, the sickly male's pale skin beginning to acquire a familiar pink flush, his breathing becoming shorter.

"So I should have sat back and done nothing?" Kai demanded, "Just wait and hope for the best?" the unspoken '_like you_' resounded louder than any shout could have in the little wooden kitchen, "_I regret nothing!_"

"Zoro, Kai, that's enough," the two jerked and looked over at their Captain, taken aback at the serious tone of voice he used on them. "You're just making things worse," Luffy pointed out, though who it was to no one could actually tell.

Kai pressed a hand to his forehead glowering at the swordsman, Chopper fluttering beside him in agitation; Zoro's body posture was tense, wound tight and defensive. Evidentially, shouting at him was just going to get him more and more riled, like a wild animal detecting an on coming fight, he sighed and slumped slightly from where he was sitting.

Zoro glanced at the older male, his breathing was short, shallow, his face flushed again and his pupils unfocused, suddenly he felt angry all over again and snarled wordlessly, storming out of the room.

The thing was...

He didn't know if he was angry at Kai... or _himself_.

**

* * *

**

Uh oh, trouble in paradise?

**XDD heh, hope you guys liked this chapter, I know I had great fun with Zoro's bitch fits. As for those of you wondering WHY he's having those PMS-y moments, well, next chapter should offer a little insight, maybe. ;D**

Araceil


	13. Chapter 11

**IGNITION**

**Chapter Eleven**

* * *

Everyone could feel the tension between Zoro and Kai from that point on.

At first they believed that Kai would calm down, as the oldest and usually the most reasonable of them, he would put this behind him and attempt to make some kind of reparations with their swordsman. Oh no. He did quite the opposite and clung stubbornly to his decision, treating the younger teen to stony silence and the occasional cold shoulder, they never spoke more than they had to and with Kai still recovering from his illness it wasn't like they interacted much outside of meal times as Zoro took pains to avoid the kitchen where he was sleeping while Chopper nursed him.

In all... Nami was getting rather fed up with it and about to do something _drastic_.

* * *

Zoro grumbled to himself, hefting the heavy weights up and down, his mind wondering.

He was angry, yes, furious even. He just didn't know or understand _why_. And that just made him angrier.

He huffed, pumping the iron a little harder, he could distantly hear Chopper speaking to the object of his thoughts through the thin wood of the kitchen but desperately tried to block out the older male's voice.

This anger... it was completely irrational and he _just didn't get why_ he was so furious with the other Pirate for putting himself in that position. He balked at the thought of analysing his feelings on the whole matter, that was just... no, he wouldn't know where to start and really, what did it matter? He was angry, that was all there was to it. He was angry at the other male for some reason or another, because he'd deliberately put himself in harm's way when he didn't have to, for being selfish and putting both Luffy, Nami and Sanji in danger by falling sick himself. For nearly dying.

He paused, muscles trembling slightly as he held the weights aloft.

He supposed... that was the main reason why he was so angry...

Kai had nearly died.

Died from something that couldn't be fought off with a sword, or a fist, or a foot. And for what? Twenty hours that weren't even needed.

Anger simmered under his skin and he thrust the weights out again.

Why did he have to be so damn _stubborn?_

* * *

"Hard to believe," Sanji admitted sitting down heavily at the cloth covered kitchen table, lighting up another cigarette.

"You alright there, Kai?" Nami asked quietly laying a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I... no," he admitted not looking up at her, "I... can I..." he sighed and got to his feet, shrugging Nami's hand off, "I just need some time to... this is a bit..." he tried to say before just shaking his head at his inability to put his feelings into words before leaving the room.

"Have I upset him?" Chopper asked quietly tearing up slightly, in the time that he had been nursing the other Pirate he'd come to actually like him. Befriend him. Kai-san was very kind and always happy to see him, he didn't think twice about what he looked like or... or the fact that he... had a blue nose, he said it was cute, that it reminded him of a story he heard as a child about a very brave reindeer with a bright red nose who was abandoned by his herd but became a hero.

Nami gave the young Doctor an apologetic smile. "A little. He'll get over it, I think," she told him sipping at her drink sadly as she glanced towards the door.

Sanji sighed and pushed the small cup of tea towards the reindeer, "You're not to blame, if anything, you've saved him a lot of grief," he pointed out, "Still," he muttered glancing at the door as well, "Recovering his memories was his reason for coming back to the Grand Line with us... finding out that it's medically impossible..." he trailed off.

"That's got to hurt."

* * *

The sky was thick and dark, a thousand pinpoints of light winked in the sky as what had been a warm day faded into a chill night – a sure sign that they were approaching a desert island.

Nami glanced outside the window of the Going Merry's kitchen, Kai hadn't come in all evening, he'd escaped onto the Merry's Figurehead where everyone had pretty much left him to sort himself out, understanding his need to be alone for now. The ginger haired thief sighed and bit her thumb nail in worry, what if Kai decided to leave the crew and go back to travelling with his brother? She doubted he would but... grief made you do silly things, and discovering that she could _never_ fulfil her dream would certainly depress Nami – it had as a matter of fact, to the point where she gave the dagger on her bedside table a very long and very careful look, wondering if she could bleed out before the Arlong Pirates could get her to medical help.

"Is he still sulking?" Zoro demanded. Of course, some of them weren't quite as considerate – though Nami just chalked it up to Zoro not knowing what was going on and still being pissy over the fact he had been actually frightened of the other male dying. Really, men, they could never get their feelings or their heads sorted out without a woman.

"Shut it, Marimo," Sanji snapped uncharacteristically vehement, making the swordsman blink at him in surprise. The rest of the crew had actually kept out of the pair's little snit fit for the most part; to have Sanji suddenly take a side was unexpected. "You don't know what's going on so don't make assumptions."

Nami nodded, "Yeah, how would you feel if you just found out that you could _never_ become the greatest swordsman in the world?" she asked softly watching as the wind picked up Kai's long hair and gently swept it to one side, she sighed and turned away.

Usopp spluttered, "What?"

Sanji grunted, "Chopper could explain it better but the short of it is that Kai's never gonna get his memories back, physically impossible."

"What! Why?" Luffy squawked, his eyes practically bugging out of his skull.

"I have brain damage," everyone stiffened and whipped around, their eyes practically bugging out of their heads at the sight of the other Pirate stood in the doorway; he smiled weakly at them as he closed the door behind him. "Turns out that the accident which took them from me means I can't ever get them back. My long term memory is permanently damaged, chances are... ten years from now... I won't remember any of this," he admitted quietly his voice dark and bitter.

"Kai-san..." Vivi murmured.

He shrugged a shoulder before planting a hand on Chopper's head, "Sorry if I made you worry earlier, Chopper-sensei," he told the little Reindeer who blinked up at him. "I'm not angry with you. Promise. I'm just cheesed off with the idiot Doctors who missed this before now," he assured the smaller animal, patting him gently on the head, "Guess it goes to show that you're a step above the rest, not even Crocus-jiji noticed."

Chopper blushed and started cursing, even as he wriggled happily in his seat.

"Are you sure you'll be alright, Kai?" Usopp asked warily.

The dark haired male nodded, smiling, "I'm fine Usopp. It's upsetting but, that's life. Sometimes things just don't go your way," he reminded him.

Zoro eyed him carefully, no, he wasn't fine, he was lying. He tried to summon that familiar simmering anger, the one that had been his training partner for the past few days during his silent war with the other male but... he couldn't find it. He wasn't angry anymore, he felt...

He wasn't sure, he could tell there was pity in there at least.

* * *

Brain damage.

He had brain damage.

After that revelation the knowledge that he was actually eighteen – not the twenty he had previously believed – had been a footnote at best.

Chopper knew his Trade, that was for sure.

Kai kicked his legs out lazily, he'd pretended to go to sleep earlier and snuck out when everyone else had dropped off, Zoro was on watch so it was pretty much a guarantee he had fallen asleep as well. It gave him more time to think, and more time away from those eyes.

Those eyes that were filled with pity the moment they found out he could never get his memories back.

Kai hated pity.

He hated those eyes.

Today had certainly been full of surprises and truths. Some truths... he could have gone without knowing to be honest. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, oh well, done was done, it was probably for the better that he knew instead of getting his hopes up too high only to have them absolutely crushed. He hadn't been lying when he said he didn't blame Chopper, little reindeer had done him a favour; he hadn't meant to hurt him.

So.

He was about eighteen years old, as an infant he had been treated very well, as a toddler he suffered some kind of trauma that gave him that odd jagged scar on his forehead and from that point on his health declined. Neglect, malnutrition, lack of sunlight, some signs of minor disease that went untreated yet for some reason he survived without negative affects. Eventually his body became subjected to a lot of manual labour that it wasn't prepared for, this put strain on his already brittle bones. This went on for years until for some reason it stopped and he started getting some decent food into him, unfortunately this was also accompanied by a rash of rather severe physical traumas. Concussions, burns, snake bites, impact trauma, a great deal of things that pointed towards what was almost a pirate-like way of life from the age of eleven upwards.

Then came the accident.

He was fourteen when he lost his memories and woke up marooned in the Grand Line.

Christ, what was a fourteen year old doing engaging in Piracy on the Grand Line? Scratch that, from the sound of those injuries, he'd been doing it since he was eleven! What the _fuck_ was an eleven year old doing as a Pirate?

Not to mention what that brain damage actually meant for things _other_ than his memory.

His powers.

Those oh-so-special abilities that made the World Government chase after him like Luffy after a plate of meat, the abilities that made him practically worshipped on Hitsuzen. With his brain the way it was...

If he used them too much he would kill himself.

The section of his brain that stored long term memory, everything from before he was fourteen was damaged, it was there but it was just irretrievable. Things could trigger flashbacks and nightmares and the like, little bits and pieces but his abilities, that strange genetic mutation in his body that allowed him to use an energy on the same wavelength as the ocean... The damage to his brain meant that the glands there didn't produce the right hormones to control it properly; whenever he used his power... it killed off the electrical impulses in his brain and created a biochemical imbalance that the damaged glands just couldn't keep up with. Hence why it took so long for his headaches to dissipate after using his powers and why he sometimes passed out when he used them too much.

In the long term though... it caused nerve damage – and made him stupid (1).

"What a fucking mess," he muttered, rubbing his forehead tiredly. Stupid as it sounded, he _actually_ wanted to cry right now. Goddamn. He huffed, he wasn't a girl and he wasn't going to break down just because he couldn't get his way. That was what spoilt brats and weaklings did.

So he couldn't get his memories back, whatever. It wasn't like he'd lost something from it or anything. A dream was a dream, unlike the rest of the crew he had been fairly laid back when it came to his so-called dream, he had joined the crew to keep them alive, not to pursue something that he doubted would ever happen.

But... He guessed doubting and having that doubt confirmed were two very different things.

The sound of footsteps caught the edges of his hearing and the dark haired male glanced over his shoulder, frowning slightly when he saw who it was, "I thought you weren't talking to me anymore?" he asked quietly facing the back of the ship again, kicking his bare feet out in the night air.

"Wasn't planning on it, but you looked like you could have done with some company," Zoro admitted leaning against the railings beside him.

"I don't want your pity."

"I wasn't offering it."

There was a beat of silence between them as they watched the starlight catch the waves trailing behind the Merry, Zoro's eyes following the pale arcs Kai's feet made as he childishly swung them backwards and forwards from where he was perched sitting on the railings.

Neither of them apologised.

"I suppose it's for the best," Kai finally said his feet stilling, "It's not like anyone came looking for me, so obviously they didn't much care for me," he told himself staring down at his big toe, he forced a smile and grinned at Zoro, "I guess you guys are stuck with me now."

Black and green met and held, a moment later Zoro was smirking.

"Yeah, and?" he asked dismissively, "You're stuck with us now too," he reminded the now younger Pirate whose face relaxed into a real smile before he snorted and turned away.

"I guess I am."

* * *

If there was ever something guaranteed to provide frustration, amusement and trouble in equal measures – it would be Luffy's appetite for food.

And his determination to get it.

Kai chuckled from where he was sat cross-legged beside Zoro's head as the swordsman snored away spread eagle across the deck – Kai had ended up falling asleep right alongside the swordsman last night so neither of them had been awake to prevent the Fridge Heist. Really, Zoro was either part dog or part cat needing that much sleep.

"You'd be crap at Poker," Sanji sneered, gripping Luffy by the face as the younger male belched rebelliously – his breath suspiciously perfumed with the scent of meat. Sanji obviously had thought so too and stood up, "Hey, there's something around your mouth," he lied.

"CRAAP! LEFTOVERS!" Luffy shrieked, clamping hands over his mouth and desperately chewing at his lips to find said left overs.

Kai burst out laughing as Sanji kicked him in the face.

* * *

On the fringes between Magnetic fields one wasn't likely to find much in the way of marine life that _wasn't_ a Sea King. Kai shook his head at the boys' persistence to fish in a place where there were none and without any ba-

Was that _Carue_ they'd tied to the end of their fishing lines?

* * *

Hotspots weren't uncommon in the Grand Line – you'd find them much more often in the Calm Belt – and sometimes certain types of pleasure ships would cluster around them and use the heated water as a kind of Natural Onsen. The downside was that they reeked of Sulphur to the point where it was almost painful to breathe, and it always played havoc with his head.

Carue squawked just as the boys yelled, "AHHHH! WE CAUGHT AN OKAMAAAAAAA?"

Kai twitched and leaned out over the railings of the crows nest just in time to see the figure in pink plummet down into the water. A beat. Two beats. Three beats.

The eighteen year old groaned and vaulted out of the crow's nest, running along the mast rigging and diving into the water, just their luck to run into a Hammer, wasn't it? Especially an _Okama_ Hammer.

He almost recoiled at the man's appearance by the time he'd swum level to him, but grabbed his flailing hands none the less and made for the surface, dragging the deadweight along behind him until they hit open air.

Coughing and treading water, he peered up through his waterlogged fringe and scowled, "Stop gaping and throw us a rope!" Kai barked, narrowing his eyes on the stunned faces of Luffy and Usopp as the Okama spluttered and flailed and clung to him, blubbering hysterically, the only reason Kai had yet to shove him off was because he wasn't keen on the man drowning. He tolerated it. Barely.

"Here, grab hold!" the familiar voice of a certain swordsman called. Finally, someone useful. Paddling over as best he could with the freakishly tall Okama clinging to his back like a baby chimp, Kai grabbed hold of the rope and wrapped his arm in it as the two of them were slowly pulled aboard by the nineteen year old.

Grumbling as he was hauled on, Kai breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Zoro batted him free of the Okama's grasp, he practically hid behind the green haired male as the rest of the crew – minus Sanji who had vanished into the kitchen – assembled on deck to see the strange spectacle that the Okama made.

"I'm going to get changed," Kai muttered quickly escaping before the Okama got any ideas or could cling to him again in '_thanks_'.

He and Okama... they didn't generally get along, or it was just Kai who didn't get along with them trying to force him into pretty white dresses and make-up. Screw the _Okama Way_, he'd do it his own way and that way did NOT include fishnet hosiery, suspender straps, pink, fake eyelashes or women's underwear.

* * *

To say Nami was relieved that whatever hostile tensions between Kai and Zoro had _finally_ died down would be an understatement – she was practically ecstatic.

The problem now was that she sensing a different kind of tension between the two, one that they and, apparently, no one else had noticed – except Sanji whom she had spoken to about her theories. And she knew it wasn't just her being paranoid because he had confirmed them with a certain measure of disgust on his face.

How long had all of them been on this Ship together? Over a month at least and she liked to think she knew her male Crewmates very well – well enough to consider them as much a family as she would Nojiko or Gen-san – so really, she wasn't that surprised when she noticed.

Not that Zoro was being particularly subtle as he ogled Kai's ass during their morning training.

She giggled, alright, maybe '_ogling_' was a bit too strong of a word, and he hadn't _actually_ stared, but she'd seen the considering glance the swordsman gave the smaller male as he did some cool down stretches after their sparring match – re: Kai throwing him around the ship like a rag doll for shits and giggles in hand to hand before getting his ass handed to him in sword practice.

In all honesty, she was surprised the two of them were still doing their morning training, ever since Luffy had gotten past the Giant Mousetrap in the kitchen – with Usopp's help – they had not been able to find enough food on the ship to scrape together any kind of substantial meal. In fact, the only edible things on the ship were Chopper's medical supplies of herbs and the like – even Luffy understood the importance of those and left them well alone.

On the other hand, she was also surprised they weren't sneaking off for sex in the bathroom yet.

The ginger haired girl quickly checked her top lip to make sure she didn't have a nosebleed – no? Good, it wouldn't do to let anyone know of her less than... wholesome thoughts, especially when it concerned those two.

She giggled again wondering how long it would take for those two block heads to figure it out – or better yet, DO something about it. Zoro would have to make the first move though, that much Nami knew, Kai had been rather open about his inexperience on such matters, not to mention his brother's habit of dismembering of anyone he didn't approve of. She did wonder just who his brother was at times, Kai spoke of him as though he were one of the most powerful men on the sea(2).

Brother or no brother, if they hadn't sorted themselves out within another month – she was locking them in the bathroom until Kai was walking out bow-legged.

Still.

She would need to have a word with Sanji about this, he wasn't happy with the thought of the two of them together but she just chalked that up to him not understanding how someone could _not_ find a woman attractive – and therefore thinking them just being rude. At least, she thought that was it, if he was just being an idiot about it then she was going to kick his ass from here to East Blue and back again – regardless of the fact he was freakishly more powerful than her.

Hmm, perhaps she should talk to Usopp about that. She could do with a new weapon.

A Bo Staff just wasn't going to cut it with the likes of Baroque Works.

* * *

Kai hummed thoughtfully as he rummaged through his toy-box, examining each weapon as they came out, setting some in a pile at his side and others behind him. The pile behind him was much smaller.

"Ne, Kai-san, what are you doing?" Usopp asked from where he was tinkering on an odd looking blue pole, small flat nozzles at the top of each section, was that a toy bird hanging out of one of them?

"Choosing my weapons," the dark haired male admitted before unhooking the top of the box and pulling down the flap of leather, Usopp felt like his eyes were about to pop out at the collection of guns and rifles revealed to him.

"You can shoot too?" he spluttered in shock.

Kai nodded, "Yup. I'm one of the few Weapons Masters in the Grand Line. A lot of people concentrate on just the one weapon, fight to become the best of the best but very few people are born with the natural talent to handle them, hence why they need so much training. I was the opposite. I can use any weapon, 'cept swords, with a good degree of skill," he explained pulling out a flint-lock and checking it over before shaking his head and putting it back into it's leather slip. He gave Usopp a smile. "You know what they say, '_Jack of All Trades – Master of None_'. My accuracy is good, but I can't make the same shots as you without having to take my time and aim properly, you actually frighten me a little Usopp, you're scarily good with that slingshot."

The long nosed pirate turned a little pink and puffed out proudly, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"How many other Weapons' Masters are there?" he asked, pulling his feet up onto his seat.

Kai rolled a shoulder, ignoring the ruckus outside with practised ease, something about cats and food. "I'm the youngest to date and probably one of the most high profile considering my brother. Um... letsee, there's the Iron Kaoru, she's from the New World, her husband is the Captain of the Ichiro Pirates, she likes her guns and her accuracy is just as good as yours, only she's got the experience to make it seem better.

"There's the Dark Evangel from the Thistle Pirates, they're a Calm Belt crew, I met Evangel a few years back, she's a tiny little thing, looks roughly ten years old but she's in her sixties, she ate a rare Devil Fruit though she refuses to tell me what it was. Her special skill is in using wires and threads, a bit like a puppeteer," he held out a pair of gloves with a few wire strings balled up at the finger tips and smirked, "I saw her take apart an entire battalion of Marines with these, sliced through them like you wouldn't believe.

"Haa-mmm, there's Haku, he's a quiet type of guy, travels alone but he's the best of the best, he can use any weapon as though he were born with it in his hand. His name isn't well known because he's an Okama, you could hardly tell him from any other woman in the street and that's the way he likes it, no gender boundaries and no ties to anyone or anything. The World Government have been after him for years, he's the total embodiment of a Ninja – which could account for his dislike of piracy," he stated with a laugh.

"Takashi's a Rookie but he shows promise. The Circle of Weapon Masters is very small so we like to keep an eye on anyone who may have the talent for it, quite often women tend to be the more skilled at multiple weapons handling, something to do with their ability to multitask. But the few men that go in for it tend to be the best of the best, natural competitive natures I think. Either way, Takashi's going to go far, so is his main rival Hiromu from South Blue, when those two clash it's like the early years of Shanks and Mihawk going head to head."

"Hey you guys, we're docking, get your butts out here!" Nami called down the hatch, breaking up their conversation.

"Coming," the two teenagers chorused, Usopp quickly hiding away the three sectioned staff and picking up his supply bag while Kai grabbed the first weapon that met his hand – Kagai – and climbed up to meet the rest of the crew who were shouting after Luffy who had just done a runner.

* * *

Nanohana, hot, dry, crowded, but happy regardless of the undercurrent of malcontent toward the Nefertari Royal Family. The Bazaar was in full early morning swing as the citizens bustled through as swiftly as possible to avoid the blistering midday heat of the desert, Street Vendors calling out to passing men and women, hawking their wears enthusiastically, young girls giggling as they clustered around the famous Nanohana perfume stalls and, for those who knew where to look, the hard faced young men and women of the Resistance, their bitter judgemental gaze following the economised movements of the grim faced Royal Guards.

But really, only if you knew where to look.

Sanji eyed the young women briefly, they were beautiful and fierce at the same time, he shuddered slightly as he realised they looked rather similar to his Trap of a crewmate when he tended to lose his temper.

No, best not think of him, girls, yes, think of the girls, the pretty girls in their dancing clothes.

Hur, hur, hur. Sanji chuckled sluttily as he pranced into the silk store the young woman Akimori mentioned earlier, the array of silk clothing and accessories he could possibly squeeze Vivi-chan or Nami-san into practically made him delirious with glee.

Floating through the store he picked up several pieces, sky blue for Nami-san and deep navy blue for Vivi-chan, to compliment their skin and hair colours.

He was somewhat surprised to find a Bargain Bucket for men's clothing at the back, it wasn't silk but good quality linen and light weight cotton clothing. This would be good for the other guys and himself, cheap and it would hold up better than silk when they got into fights – and it was guaranteed they would – and it wouldn't cause any tears should it get trashed.

He smirked as he picked out the clothes, feeling a little mischievous when a flash of red caught his eye.

He was going to get stomped into paste – but it would be worth it to see his reaction.

* * *

Kai sighed quietly, running thin fingers through his limp sweaty dark hair from where he was sipping at some water, Zoro and Usopp stuffing their faces with food and the girls marvelling over their clothes.

He had been right in thinking that Sanji would have gotten them some inappropriate clothing for Desert travel. Dancing girl outfits, why did it have to be dancing girl outfits? He was going to have nightmares of that brothel Mihawk dragged him to on Akasango, the one where the unceremoniously shoved him into the '_tender_' care of the Dancing Girls while he went off with one of his favourite '_friends_'. Kai shuddered slightly and glanced at Sanji in paranoia, he couldn't have heard about that, could he? He wouldn't have. Kai _swore_ those girls to absolute secrecy.

"Ah-ha, this is gorgeous!" Nami exclaimed, smiling brightly as she studied herself wearing the outfit, Vivi blushing slightly in amused embarrassment behind her. "I love stuff like this," the Thief declared happily.

"About the errands we asked you to do, Sanji-san," Vivi started, smiling a little embarrassedly, "Isn't this... a dancing girl's – ?"

Sanji whipped around, interrupting her, one could almost see the love hearts in his eyes, "Isn't it lovely? It looks great on you!" he crowed.

"But I asked you for clothes the citizens wear..." Vivi pointed out meekly.

"Dancing girls are citizens too!" the Cook exclaimed, squirming happily.

"But for walking in the desert – " the Princess continued doggedly only to be interrupted again by the practically rapturous Love-Cook.

"Don't worry! If you get tired, I'll carry you!" he told her.

"It's no use talking to him," Vivi deadpanned, looking away and appearing somewhat frazzled.

"SANJI, YOU ASSHOLE! YOU GOT ME GIRLS' CLOTHES!" everyone jolted at the sound of Kai's bellow of anger and Sanji's face hitting the sand. "What the hell, you bastard?" the younger Pirate snarled grinding his foot down on the Cook's head.

Nami giggled before bursting into laughter as she held the fallen clothing up, "Aww, but Kai, you'd look absolutely lovely as a Dancing girl!" she exclaimed holding it out as though mentally pasting it onto his body.

It was a Dancing Girl outfit similar to Nami's but a little skimpier in that it had slits all the way up to the thighs and a few other little differences in dark crimson silk and gold and green embroidery.

Vivi went pink the moment she saw it.

Kai snarled as Sanji lifted a thumbs up from where he was face down, "That! That is not a dancing girl outfit! THAT is a _Harem Girl_ outfit!" the dark haired male snapped, glaring at it, as though hoping he could make the garment burst into flames with the power of his eyesight alone.

At this point, Nami roared with laughter, but whether this was because Kai had just stomped on Sanji's hand or the fact that Zoro had just wiped his nose and checked to make sure it wasn't bleeding – no one was entirely certain.

* * *

"Probably just some dumbass Pirate running around," Sanji stated dismissively.

There was a pause.

"Dumbass pirate?" the group chorused, a sinking feeling forming in their stomachs.

"Halt Strawhat!"

"Waaaa-ahhhh-ahhh-ahhh!"

"IT WAS YOU?" they all exclaimed, glaring at their Captain as he ran from a large group of Marines, wailing his heart out.

Kai grabbed the nearest bundle of supplies, knowing Luffy he would bring them straight onto their heads, really, only he could get almost every Marine in Nanohana chasing after him within two hours of docking!

"IDIOT! Don't come over here until you've lost them!" Zoro roared as their Captain charged over having spotted them, and brought the Marines right after him.

They ran.

Grabbing up all the supplies the group of nine bolted off towards the inlet where they'd docked, hoping to outrun the Marines – though considering how they were weighed down with supplies it didn't look likely.

"_**WHITE BLOW**_!" oh _fuck nuggets_! And they just _had_ to have Captain Smoker with them as well, didn't they? "You won't escape!"

"_**KAGEROU**_!" an unfamiliar voice commanded, orange and red fire blasting through the air dissipating the billows of white smoke.

Kai gaped, that was the _Mera Mera no Mi_, and only one person in the world had that ability, _Hiken no Ace_, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates! What the hell was he doing in Arabasta? Wasn't he supposed to be in the New World with the rest of the White Beards? Were those rumours of a murder within his Division actually true then...?

Kai bit his lip, what on earth was he doing this far away from his Crew? It wasn't like Whitebeard to allow one of his '_Sons_' to stray so far from his side.

And apparently he knew Luffy? Fire Fist Ace knew Luffy? Their Luffy? Their idiot captain Luffy?

"Anyway!" the freckled Pirate announced, "We can't talk like this! I'll catch up later, you guys run for it!" he told them, grinning excitedly as he faced Smoker and the growing number of Marines in front of them. "I'll keep these guys busy! GO!"

"Let's go!" Luffy shouted immediately, bolting off without a second glance.

"Luffy what?" Kai spluttered, racing after him, he didn't glance back either but he was more than aware of the sheer amount of strength Fire Fist Ace had – stronger now than Kai had been even at the height of his strength the first time he came through the Grand Line, though Kai chalked that up to being quite a few years younger than Ace currently was. Still, it wasn't like Luffy to just run from a fight and leave someone else to finish it off, unless he was absolutely one-hundred percent certain that person was strong enough to handle it. Maybe he knew Fire Fist better than Kai thought?

"Who the hell was that?" Sanji demanded as the group of them raced away.

"Is he someone you know, Luffy-san?" Vivi called, panting slightly as she ran.

Luffy laughed happily, "Yeah!" he announced, "He's my Niichan!"

Kai could have sworn his brain just broke.

* * *

There was no way someone as polite and well mannered as Fire Fist Ace could be the older brother of their idiot captain Luffy.

Kai shook his head.

The Sea was a truly mysterious place.

Sadly it looked as though he wasn't going to be sticking around, the rumours of a murder within the Whitebeard Pirates had, unfortunately, not been fake. The pirate Blackbeard – and that name brought up some uncomfortable memories – had been one of Ace's subordinates and murdered the Commander of the Fourth Division, Thatch, and fled.

Ace was now hunting him down.

It seemed as though his lead in Arabasta had been a bust so now he was moving on, sticking around only for a meal before heading off. At least he gave Luffy his Bibli-Card so that he could find him again if things got too hairy.

"Ace-san, a word please?" Kai said, gesturing for the older pirate to follow him out of earshot of the others while they were busy partying.

Blinking in curiosity, the black haired male hopped off the barrel and followed the teenager who he was fairly certain was Mihawk's rumoured young sibling.

"I don't mean to intrude or anything," the younger of the two began, "But I need you to promise me something," Ace tilted his head in curiosity, "Luffy loves you, anyone with eyes can see he practically worships you like only a little brother could. So I want you to promise me to be careful hunting down Teach," he stated.

Ace jolted, "I don't think I ever said his real na – "

"You didn't," Kai admitted, "Shanks took me in for a time when I was fourteen. He told me about Teach himself. About the scars on his eye," Ace stiffened, he hadn't known that the Yonkou Red Haired Shanks's famed scars came from his old crewmate, "I'm not going to tell you to stop, you're big enough and smart enough to make your own decisions and beyond Luffy's well being, it's none of my business. Just be careful. I know how I would feel if either one of my brothers got messed up, I wouldn't wish that on Luffy at all. So promise me, you'll be careful."

Ace thumbed his nose and chuckled, "You drive a hard bargain. Alright, I'll be careful."

"That's not a promise, Portgas," Kai pointed out coldly, narrowing his eyes.

He chuckled, "I can't promise. I can only say I'll try."

Kai growled in frustration, running his fingers through his hair before marching forward and prodding the taller male in the chest, "Alright, I can tell that's as good as I'm going to get but Leviathan damnit, if you upset my Captain I'm going to kick your ass to East Blue and back again, y'hear!" he growled.

Ace laughed, holding his hands up in surrender, "I hear, I hear!" he told the smaller male who nodded and smirked.

"Good."

* * *

Erumalu was a ruin.

The wind howled through the fallen buildings, moaning and wailing as thought the town itself was crying with pain and thirst. Kai sighed quietly, such was the way of things, with drought came death, water was life and so without it, places like Erumalu couldn't survive.

Still, Vivi said the journey to Yuba shouldn't take longer than an afternoon.

Kai was inclined to think that it probably would have – if not for the freaking Sand Storms that battered at them every so often.

It had gotten to the point that whenever he felt the winds pick up he would grab Chopper and then the back of Zoro's haramaki as the swordsman had proved himself to be a very good wind breaker. The hot sun didn't affect him or the girls that much, Kai had raided the gear that Kit had picked out for them and given the girls some more appropriate clothing before grabbing a similar white coat and white head-dress made of linen. Unfortunately, Chopper was so fuzzy that he couldn't handle the midday heat that well, which translated to either he or Zoro carrying/dragging their little Reindeer friend across the sand.

"NEXT ROCKY OUTCROPPING STRAIGHT AHEAD!" Usopp called much to the relief of everyone. Lunch time.

"Really?" Luffy crowed, "Break time! Yahoo!" the younger pirate shrilled, bolting off toward said outcropping, dragging all their luggage along behind him.

Kai chuckled weakly, "Someone's enthusiastic," he muttered blinking away a bead of sweat that threatened to dribble into his eyes.

"Feh," Zoro grunted unhappily, making the other male chuckle slightly. None of them were particularly happy about the heat, least of all the swordsman or the reindeer.

"Oh look, he's coming back," Sanji noted lightly.

"EMERGANCY!" he shouted, "There's a bunch of birds over there too injured to move! Chopper!"

* * *

The freaking birds stole their supplies.

Kai could feel the migraine throbbing at his temples as he eyed the annoying white creatures.

"Usopp, you better shoot the ones I miss," he bit out reaching under his cloak and withdrawing his favourite weapons – a pair of Sea King hide Bull Whips, five tails each tipped with a cruel metal hook – a gift from one of the girls on Sunflower Island.

The look on everyone's faces when they saw the weapons was definitely worth lugging them around the desert.

"O-o-o-oi, what are you – " Usopp began, bringing out his slingshot anyway.

"GIVE US BACK OUR STUFF!" Luffy roared chasing after the birds as they bolted and charged off into the desert.

There was a pause and Kai huffed quietly, "Moron, he's just going to lose them," he complained before coiling the whips up again.

"Uhh, Kai, you don't... know how to use them, right?" Nami asked nervously, eyeing the admittedly rather wicked looking weapons nervously.

Kai merely smirked.

* * *

It was almost nightfall by the time they reached Yuba.

The wind was a bit choppy but tapering off, filled with sand it didn't take a genius to figure out they had just walked into the tail end of a Sand Storm. Yuba must have been hit only a bare hour before hand.

"This is pretty bad," Zoro muttered, studying the half buried town, Usopp slung over one shoulder, "This place isn't much better off than Erumalu."

"Where's the water?" Luffy demanded, tongue hanging out of his mouth, peering around desperately for a convenient water barrel or pool he could dunk his head in.

"Isn't this supposed to be an oasis, Vivi-chan?" Sanji asked.

"The sand... must have raised the ground level," she replied, her voice hesitating and filled with dread.

"And buried the oasis," Kai finished, staring around at the desolate landscape and forgotten buildings, this place... it was a ruin, there was no way the Resistance would have been holed up in here. It looked as though it suffered a Sand Storm every day!

The group paused in the silence, the faint sound of metallics and shifting earth hitting their ears as they approached a dip in the centre of town. Kai felt something thud painfully in his chest when he saw the single old man, digging alone in the middle of the pit. Painfully thin and shaking hands scooping up sand, and tossing it aside.

"You're passing travellers, right?" the old man asked, his voice rough with thirst and age, not looking up from his task. "You must be tired from your trip across the desert," he continued, heaving a particularly large spade load of sand aside.

"Sorry but, I'm afraid this town's a little dried up at the moment," he looked over at them and smiled slightly, his cheeks painfully sunken in with hunger and wrinkled with age and sun. "I hope you can at least get some rest before you go."

"If you're looking for inns, there's plenty around," he explained, turning back to his digging, "It's what we're famous for after all."

**

* * *

**

(1)

XDD Yeah, this hit me and a friend of mine Ryan a while ago. The human body has an electrical impulse that runs through out the body, in controls nerves and feeds the brain. Magic is the Anti-Electrical energy according to Rowling, the two can't coexist and looking through the books there's just so much stupidity evidenced by the Wizards that we figured that Magic was killing that electrical impulse and thus making Wizards stupid by turning their brains to mulch. It explains how such a reasonable girl like Hermione could end up doing such silly things in the later books.

**(2)** Nami doesn't know about Mihawk and Kai being adoptive brothers. She wasn't present for the fight.


	14. Chapter 12

**IGNITION**

**Chapter Twelve**

* * *

"Okay gentlemen!" Usopp crowed, nose thrust into the air as the rest of them got ready for bed. Kai for the most part was still shaking the sand out of his hair. "We've had a rough day. Let's take a little rest to replenish our strength and be ready for tomorrow!" He then jumped onto the bed and, curling up, called "Goodnight!" pretending to snore.

Kai rolled his eyes and huffed slightly as Zoro flung a pillow at the other male snarling irritably.

Which of course prompted Usopp to return fire and slam a pillow into the swordsman's face, somehow Chopper got dragged in and then they flung another pillow at Sanji while he attempted to convince Vivi to crawl into bed with him. And then of course they got Nami by accident and Sanji joined the fight and it became a free for all, and Kai himself somehow got caught up in it as he fended off the attacks of the hot headed boys while Vivi smiled gently at them, holding her slightly sore face. Nami huffed and curled up.

The fight lasted for a while and eventually everyone fell asleep curled up in a massive knot of human limbs save Kai who quietly went about picking them all up and putting them to bed before flopping into the bunk above Zoro, passing into a deep exhausted dreamless sleep.

Usopp was right. It _had_ been a tiring day.

* * *

The next morning when they set out, Toto-san gave Luffy a small drink barrel of the water he helped to dig up the night before – which explained where Luffy had been before Kai woke up that morning.

Something felt off though.

Kai shared a glance with Zoro the two of them silently agreeing between themselves that things were about to change and that, as usual, Luffy would be the cause. That feeling proved to be true when the seventeen year old flopped back under a very sorry looking stick of a dried out tree and declared:

"I quit."

Kai's eyes flickered to Zoro and the two of them decided to stay out of the conversation, they could both tell what was coming and to be honest they both thought it was for the best. It was a fight that had been a long time coming. The two of them watched as Sanji attempted to get their Captain moving only to get tossed aside as though he weighed practically nothing. Luffy's freakish physical strength being turned against them wasn't something anyone aside from Zoro and Kai had ever considered.

"Vivi," the pirate began, his face darkening into a frightening scowl, "I want to beat the crap out of _Crocodile_," he growled. "If we stop all those rebels, will Crocodile stop? Even if we reach Katorea, there's nothing we can do. We're _Pirates_. You're better off going there without us."

Sanji looked a little put out, "Sometimes, that senseless idiot really hits it on the head," he muttered in wonder.

"That... That isn't..." Vivi tried to say before she was interrupted.

"All you want is for no one to die in this battle. Not the people of your country. Not any of us. You're taking on a Shichibukai Pirate in a battle over a million people are preparing to fight in. And all _you_ want is for no one to get _hurt_," Luffy looked the young princess dead in the eye. "Aren't you just kidding yourself?" he asked as she began to shake with anger.

"Wait, Luffy, can't you try to understand Vivi's feelings?" Nami beseeched him, stepping forward only to be blocked by the blond cook.

"Nami-san, wait."

"But..." she subsided watching as Vivi marched forward several steps, her hood falling off.

"What's wrong with that?" the Princess demanded glaring at her friend. "What's wrong with not wanting anyone to die?"

There was a pause and then...

"People die," Luffy told her flatly.

Kai watched with calm eyes as Vivi and Luffy shouted at each other, and then started brawling across the sand – or more Vivi punching and slapping their Captain while he laid there and took it.

"Try risking our lives as well! WE'RE YOUR NAKAMA!" Luffy roared at the sixteen year old, startling her into silence and then into tears as his voice softened. "We're your Nakama, right?" he asked quietly as she began to sob, hands clamped over her mouth.

"What? So it turns out... you do cry," he marvelled watching as she broke down into tears for the first time since they met, all those days ago back at Twin Capes when she was known as Miss Wednesday.

"You're the one suffering the most, and you want to beat the hell out of him more than anyone," he continued, dusting his treasured straw hat off as Nami came and hugged the younger girl close. The rest of them stood in silence, waiting for the verdict.

"Now tell me," the Captain demanded, "Where is Crocodile?"

* * *

Kai had to smile, everything seemed to have worked out.

The price for kicking the crap out of Crocodile had been valued at '_Feed Luffy until he pops_' – which was quite a heavy price when one thought about it – and now all they had to do was find the bastard and stomp him into paste.

Thankfully, Rainbase should have a lot of water which meant that Kai could run some suitable interference and nullify Croc's Logia powers.

* * *

"Shade," the long haired male moaned happily flopping back in the shadows of the palms overhead, yanking off his head scarf and shaking his hair out. "I have sand in places I didn't think could physically accumulate this stuff," he complained wriggling half heartedly before giving up and slumping, lying down and allowing his hair to spread out across the sand.

Zoro snorted from where he was sat right beside him, heckling Eyelashes with a stick by tapping him in the face with it and moving away just before the Camel could bite him.

"Oh shush," Kai muttered, "You'd be bitchy too if you had sand where I do."

And that was something he could have really done without hearing, amusing though it was... wonder where he meant? Zoro quickly shucked that thought away as Chopper went off in search of a bathroom.

"Maybe we shouldn't have trusted those two with this," Sanji muttered eyeing the street as if looking for Luffy and Usopp who seemed to be taking their sweet time getting some water for the rest of them.

"It's only a simple errand," Nami pointed out, "They'll manage," she assured them.

"You sure?" Zoro asked, poking Eyelashes in the nostril with his twig as Kai rolled over and peered up at them from under his sandy hair. "They'll probably come running back with trouble right behind them," he complained pulling his hand away before the Camel could chomp down on it. "We should probably prepare ourselves."

Kai nudged him with a foot, "I hope you're wrong, but by Murphy's Law you're probably right," Zoro huffed and grabbed his foot before Kai could nudge him in the head. "Ever consider taking up fortune telling?" the younger pirate teased as he caught the telltale yelling of Marines in the distance, a wry smile on his face.

"They're being chased by Marines again," Sanji complained.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" Nami wailed, "So why are they running _this_ way?"

Kai groaned and tugged his foot out of Zoro's grasp as the group took off running. Did he have to run around like a headless chicken too? Heaving himself up the long haired pirate stumbled onto his feet and raced off after the rest of the group as they bolted through the City, straight to Crocodile's casino – before the rest of Millions of Baroque Works cornered them along with the Marines. They didn't have time for this!

Knowing how terrible Zoro's sense of direction was, he chased after the swordsman and Vivi as they split up from the rest of the group and stuck with the swordsman after he sent the Princess away.

Someone would have to show him the way to Rainy Dinners.

* * *

"Roronoa Zoro, we meet again," both of them twitched and pulled the exact same face at the familiar female voice.

"Oh you have _got_ to be fucking kidding me!" Kai complained, loudly, as he turned around and glared at her, "Don't you have more important things to be doing! Like, I don't know, trying to stop the Rebellion at Katorea from marching on the Capitol?" he demanded in complete exasperation.

Tashigi stiffened slightly but pointedly ignored the incredibly rude woman stood at Roronoa's side, though it was hard to when she held such a beautiful looking Meitou in one hand and a truly wicked looking Sea King Hide whip in the other.

"I've been looking for you for a long time," she announced.

"And I'm being ignored," Kai grumbled rolling a shoulder and sheathing Kagai across his back.

"Attacking innocent people? What is the meaning of this?"

"We've got our own reasons," Zoro growled tersely.

"Baroque Works is hardly '_innocent people_', you ignorant bitch. Stop judging us already. Goddamnit, you really piss me off," Kai growled as he recoiled his whip with careful movements, unwilling to get his fingers shredded to pieces on his own hooks.

"I don't intend to fight you," Zoro declared, sheathing his swords, "Our Duel was settled in Loguetown."

"It was not!" the Marine barked unsheathing her sword and ignoring Roronoa's hot tempered companion – was she his lover? It was surprising that a man like him would have such a mouthy and independent seeming woman at his side, he seemed more the type who would like to have complete control over his significant other – at least to her anyway. "We have not yet truly crossed swords!"

"Now there's an innuendo just begging to be said out loud," Kai muttered childishly and almost prompted Zoro to start sniggering. "Let's get out of here. We have business elsewhere, Zoro."

"Agreed. Ja ne," he called to the dark haired girl who looked so much like Kuina that he would grab any excuse not to fight her with both hands. Thank every heathen god that Kai understood and was perfectly capable of coming up with a decent excuse not to.

"Hey! Get back here, Roronoa!"

* * *

"Luffy, when we get out of this, I'm kicking your ass," Kai told his Captain coolly, "Just so you know."

Luffy pouted at him.

"It's not my fault! How was I supposed to know it was a trap?" he complained.

"He wants us dead," the Pirate pointed out flatly. "How could it _not_ have been a Trap?"

They were in a cage, a cage lined with Kairoseki and in the basement of Rainy Dinners with Crocodile sat in a chair in front of them – and there was nothing they could do. He sighed, leaning against the bars from where he was sat beside Smoker, oh, and he forgot the Marine Captain was here too.

He made a sound of disgust in the back of his throat, "I could have just been a baker, I wanted to be a baker, settle down, open up a nice little bakery, have Wednesday afternoon specials where cream cakes are half price – but no. No, the World Government just had to stick a bounty on my head because I can talk to Sea Kings. And now I'm stuck in the crew of an idiot who gets me involved in Civil Wars and Shichibukai business again," he thumped his head back against the metal behind him. "I must have been born under a fucking cursed star or something."

They had fallen into what had to have been one of the most embarrassing traps Kai had ever seen in his life. A split junction, VIPs pointing in one direction, Pirates in the other, a trap door down the Pirate hall and they landed in a fucking Kairoseki cage. He was going to kick Luffy's ass when they got out of this – it was fucking _embarrassing!_

Smoker arched an eyebrow at him, a little confused; he wanted to be a... _baker_?

"A clever trap indeed," Luffy stated seriously.

"Yes," Usopp agreed. "We couldn't help but fall for it."

Kai felt a vein on his forehead throb as Nami shouted at them, "It was TOTALLY avoidable! This is exactly what he wanted us to do! How could you be so stupid?"

"More importantly," Luffy started, completely ignoring his navigator's scolding, "I... keep feeling my strength draining away..." he complained sagging against the bars weakly.

"What's wrong? You hungry or something?" Usopp asked, he of course didn't feel anything wrong – he was an ordinary human, no Devil Fruit powers.

Kai's eyebrow shot up as Smoker climbed to his feet, he shot up a split second later when he saw the Marine go for his Jutte, his already volatile temper snapping with the aggressive move against his Nakama.

His foot lashed out cracking the grey haired man in the back of the knees, dropping him onto all fours where the smaller male immediately jumped him. Slamming the larger man to the floor using an elbow to the back of the head and stabbing Kagai down straight through one of his cigars as he sat on the Marine's back.

"You ever make a threatening move toward my Captain again and I'll take your head off," he snarled darkly glaring piercingly at the older man on the floor.

"You bastard," Smoker growled, unable to move with the razor sharp edge of the sword a bare centimetre from his face. He didn't know what powers the boy had but it felt as though he had been plunged into the sea, or touching Kairoseki, just with him sat on his back. He couldn't use his _Moku Moku_ powers and he didn't want to tempt the Pirate into killing him while he couldn't fight back, especially in this situation. Still, loyalty to one's Captain at this level was very, very rare amongst rabid mongrels like Pirates – that just made Strawhat all the more dangerous in Smoker's eyes, not to mention his older brother was one of Whitebeard's Commanders, that was just a sign of what Strawhat could grow into if he was allowed to run free. Smoker would not allow that.

Dark laughter filled the room accompanied by the sound of slow deliberate applause.

"You never change. Do you, _Toriko_?" the deep baritone voice practically purred.

Kai twitched. "Don't fucking call me that. You don't have the right, you slimy bastard," he snarled getting to his feet, dismissing Smoker as the lesser threat as he wrenched Kagai from the floor.

The voice chuckled again, "Which would you prefer then? _Ruriga, Harinezumi, Demon of the Sea, Leviathan's Child, Green Eyes_ – "

"DON'T FUCKING MESS WITH ME!" the Pirate roared, lashing out and kicking the bars of the cage so hard they physically buckled under the force, punching outwards alarmingly.

"Oi, Kai, you know this guy?" Usopp asked warily as he watched his Nakama's chest heave with anger.

Crocodile laughed as he turned to face them, "Of course he does; he knows every Shichibukai. Though some more than others, right _Toriko_?" Kai seethed and kicked the bars again making them rattle alarmingly much to Crocodile's amusement, "Imagine my surprise, my glee, when I found out you were on the crew accompanying the Princess to Arabasta," the Shichibukai spoke getting to his feet and approaching the cage not bothering to stay out of arms reach as he brazenly stood in front of the smaller male.

"It's been two years, Namikaze," he stated reaching out with his hook and running the tip fearlessly down the other male's cheek as he glared hot death at him, "Who would have though that the scrawny little crow trailing at his brother's heels would become such a swan in such a short amount of time?" Kai jerked his head away and spat at him with a disgusted snarl.

Crocodile flicked the saliva from his cheek with his hand and stepped back, smirking, "I wonder, how would Mihawk react if he heard of his _beloved little brother's death_?"

The reaction was instant.

"_**BASTARD!**_" Kai screamed slamming a fist against the bars with such force the metal warped and stretched alarmingly, tearing at the joints and shattering several of the younger pirate's knuckle bones. His Haki lashing out to the point where Crocodile's eyes widened in concerned alarm, out of everyone in that cage Mihawk's brat sibling was the only one who could be considered a threat to him.

"No way," Nami breathed, her burgundy eyes wide. Kai, their Kai, Namikaze Kai was the younger brother of a Shichibukai? He was the so called Demon of the Sea? Leviathan's Child?

Zoro's eyes practically bugged out staring at his crewmate in stunned disbelief. He was Hawk Eye's younger brother? Why didn't he say anything? Why had he kept it a secret?

Smoker choked, inhaling on his cigars so hard that he near enough swallowed them. HAWK-EYES HAD A BROTHER? There had, of course, been rumours that the Swordsman had taken an apprentice, had a child, had a sister, but never, never had there been anything regarding a brother. HQ... HQ would definitely want to hear about this, Green Eyes, the one Pirate apart from Strawhat who had ever escaped him, the one that even his own men were beginning to doubt the existence of, the Sea King Tamer, was stood not ten feet away from him and he was the younger brother of a Shichibukai _and a member of Strawhat's crew!_

"Don't you _fucking dare_ touch my brother, you shitty waste of space," the smaller Pirate seethed, "or I will _**end**_ you."

"So excitable," the older man mocked. "Don't worry, I will kill you all in due time. Smoker, I believe you will die in a tragic accident, I will inform the World Government that you fought very bravely against the Strawhats but fell prey to the bloodlust of Mihawk's demon of a brother," Kai kicked the cage again, making the bars creak alarmingly. "But for now, our Guest of Honour has yet to arrive."

"Guest of honour?" Nami echoed, not liking the sound of that in the least.

Crocodile smirked broadly, "My partner is bringing her in now."

* * *

"Doesn't it move you to tears? The love for the country... is what will _destroy_ the country."

_Operation Utopia_, the very thing that was going to destroy the country that Vivi loved so much by pitting the Rebels against the Royal army and having them destroy each other. And for what? It wasn't the throne. Not Croc's style, he already had enough power and influence as a Shichibukai and owner of Rainbase, if he wanted more power then he was going to be heading for One Piece and the coveted Pirate King title.

He wanted something else.

Kai didn't pay attention to the rest of it, now that it had been established he couldn't physically bust his way out of the Kairoseki reinforced cage his hand had decided to remind him that his knuckles were broken by causing him extreme _pain_.

As of right now, the only way they were getting out of this was either by Sanji showing up or by Vivi managing to get the key out of that Bananawani.

Bananawani... _Reptile!_

Of course! That hissing dumbfuck conversation he could hear had been the Bananawani the whole time!

He had forgotten that he could speak with reptiles... he had to wait though, with Crocodile himself there the animals would never listen to him they understood the fact that the Shichibukai was more powerful than they were, it was why they were so docile toward him – they operated on strict hierarchy rules and since Crocodile was the strongest he was the leader. The fact that he was human was just insulting to them, so if Kai actually _asked_ chances were they would help if it meant the destruction of their '_leader_'. He hoped.

He was, to be honest, a little worried about Zoro's reaction to the little titbit of knowledge Crocodile let slip earlier, he glanced at the swordsman before quickly jerking his eyes away when he realised the green haired male was looking directly at him with an odd expression on his face. One that made him feel very uncomfortable.

Smoker merely shook his head, the youth of today, such drama. Pirates were the worst.

"bellup-bellup-bellup-bellup,"

Everyone paused at the sound of the Baby Den Den Mushi resounding from Miss All Sunday's coat. "A message," she confirmed, withdrawing it, "What is it?" she asked.

"_Hello? Hellooo? Is this thing working?_"

"Yes, I can hear you. You're Million's, correct?"

"_Oi, is this getting through?_" the familiar voice asked, sounding as though he were speaking to someone else. "_I ain't never used one of these Baby Den Den Mushi's before... Yes, it's working. Just keep talking into it,_" a different voice explained.

"What is it?" Miss All Sunday repeated, sounding a little impatient.

"Just spit it out already," Crocodile sneered, "What happened?"

"_Ahh, now that's a voice I've heard before... Hey, thanks for calling. This is the Shitty Restaurant._"

Sanji!

Finally!

* * *

With Crocodile out of the room he could hopefully talk the dumb beast out of killing Vivi.

Taking a breath he concentrated, "_Oi, leave it_," he hissed explosively, glaring at the massive creature which practically reared back to face him. Kai's shoulders tensing as he met the carnivore's eyes dead on and felt the eyes of his crew mates on his back, "_Leave two legs. Not for eating_," he told the creature firmly.

The creature hissed and snarled in denial, tail lashing.

"_Not for eating. Too small. Leave it. Wide water has food. Big foods,_" he reminded the creature. Bananawani were native to the Calm Belts where they could hunt the Sea Kings that were their food source without worry. No doubt they had been brought to Rainbase by Crocodile who wanted to keep them as a badge of status or something equally moronic.

Stupid creature wasn't listening though.

"I hate reptiles, they're dumb as fuck," he complained in understandable tones to the rest of the group.

"What's wrong?" Luffy asked.

"Crocodile is their leader and Bananawani are very hierarchical. Because he's the leader they won't go against his orders. Even when he isn't here. And it's too stupid to speak back properly," he added in frustration. This was why he preferred snakes, they could actually _SPEAK_. "Bananawani are just too close to dinosaurs to get anything out of them. Dumb as a box of hair. VIVI, RUN FOR IT WHILE IT'S DISTRACTED! GO!" he called to the girl before hissing at the creature again, repeating himself by saying that she wasn't worth eating, that there were better things for eating back in the Ocean.

Stupid overgrown handbag still wasn't buying it. But at least Vivi had managed to escape in search of Sanji.

* * *

"_**Anti-Manner Kick Course!**_"

"About damn time you showed up," Kai mattered from where he was cradling his hand against his chest and glaring at the stupid weakling of a Bananawani who wasn't even able to chew open the cage – its fucking teeth broke without even making a dent!

"Hey, did I make you wait long?" the blond asked smirking brazenly as he took a drag of his cigarette, the churned up water from his attack finally settling again.

"PRINCE-SAN!" Usopp and Luffy cheered, pumping their arms like a cheer-leading squad.

"We're saved," Nami breathed in relief.

"Stop screwing around and find the key, NOW!" Zoro roared through gritted teeth.

"NAMI-SAAAAAAN! D-Do you love me?" the idiot Love Cook called, flailing around gleefully in the water.

"Yes, yes," the thief agreed as he continued and started to chant the words '_Mellorine_' as he did so. "Now open the door."

"Coooming!" there was practically love hearts tacked onto his words by this point. Kai dreaded to know what Smoker thought of them after all this; it was safe to say that the Strawhats hadn't exactly given him a very good impression of Piracy, more lunacy or stupidity than anything else. Ah well, maybe he'd see that they weren't real villains but just a bunch of idiots with a Jolly Roger.

"His stupidity has no limits," Zoro deadpanned.

"All idiots have their uses," Kai pointed out watching as the rest of the Bananawani converged on the blond cook.

"You trying to say something?" the swordsman growled, shooting him a look. Kai stiffened and glared up at him before roughly elbowing him in the side.

"Get over yourself," he bit out.

The swordsman grunted and rubbed at his side, pulling a face. OK, maybe he had been a little unreasonable with that one, it wasn't like Kai _had_ to tell him who his brother was and to be honest, knowing would have made no difference to how that Duel progressed or how anything happened after it – though little to his knowledge that if the Duel _hadn't_ happened, Kai would have left the Strawhats with Johnny and Yosaku before ditching them at the next island.

* * *

Mr 3 popping out of a Bananawani was... unexpected. But at least he was useful enough in unlocking the cage for them – Kai had been nurturing a secret suspicion that Crocodile had tossed a fake key in there just to mess with them, it was what _he_ would have done and he wasn't as mean as the Shichibukai.

Unfortunately, the room just wasn't able to hold up during the stress of Luffy and Zoro taking out their bad moods on the gathered Bananawani and flooded.

The water burst in and Kai found himself being swept up in an odd, uncomfortable parody of Aqua Laguna and the very day he met his Niisama...

Getting his feet under him, the dark haired male spotted Zoro dragging Smoker along behind him and scowled, why on earth was he – oh sod it, a life was a life, no matter how annoying it was! Grabbing the Marine's shoulder he nodded to the swordsman and between the two of them got the Hammer up to the surface and eventually onto the street.

Spitting up water, he crawled onto the street as best he could with his hand throbbing and unable to move properly. He shouldn't have hit that steel cage so hard – cutting it would have been pointless, Kairoseki was a mineral and as hard as diamond, there was no way he could have sliced through it. That was something only his brother could do. He shook himself like a dog and wrung out as much water from his clothes as possible with just the one hand, night would be soon and wet clothes in subzero temperatures could be fatal. Thankfully the sun was still out so hopefully they would dry before it got dark.

"Go."

Kai blinked, staring at the Marine Captain. Had he just told them to... leave?

"But this is the last time I'll ever let you go," he promised, "When we meet again, your life is over."

"There they are!" the distant shout of Smoker's unit resounded, and Zoro couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous the whole situation was. What do you know? Smoker-Taisa was actually a pretty decent guy. "Back up Captain Smoker!"

"Let's go. The Marines are coming," Sanji declared grinning at Vivi. "Which way to Alubarna?"

"This way," she said smiling broadly, "directly East!"

* * *

Kai stared at the massive creature. Moving Crab huh... they were definitely fast but...

_This one had the look of a total pervert_.

* * *

Vivi screamed as she was abruptly wrenched off the back of Eyelashes's Crab friend. A large golden hook around her waist.

"VIVI!"

"Shit, he found us!"

"Chopper, stop the crab!" Zoro shouted.

"It's him! YOU DAMNED – " Luffy howled, stretching his arms out and grabbing the golden claw, snapping to Vivi's side and wrenching her free before throwing her straight back to the crab and his crew.

"Luffy-san!" Vivi cried.

"You guys go on ahead! I'LL BE FINE ON MY OWN!" he shouted flying backwards and slamming into the ground, head first, "Make sure you get her there safely! Get Vivi back home! MAKE SURE!" he shouted, completely unaware of how his words sounded to his crew and most of all to Vivi, "Make sure, okay?" he repeated, smiling.

"Idiot," Zoro muttered gruffly, smiling uncertainly, he supposed that all they could do was hope and trust in luck, "Oi! Let's go, Chopper! From here – straight to Alubarna!"

The Reindeer's eyes were suspiciously shiny as he nodded, "Right, got it. LET'S GO!" he commanded, snapping the reigns on the Moving Crab urging it into a run.

Kai swallowed tightly, watching as his Captain got smaller and smaller on the horizon as they moved further and further away, Nami attempting to comfort the young Princess as she called out to her friend.

"Listen Vivi," Zoro told her, "He'll keep Crocodile busy. The instant the Rebel Army moved to attack, the time limit on this country was decided. If the Royal Army and the Rebel Army collide... This country, the Kingdom of Arabasta, is done for. And if you are the only hope for stopping them... then you must stay alive, no matter what. From now on, whatever happens to any of us... is of NO importance."

"B-but..." she whispered.

"Vivi-chan, you set up this fight," Sanji pointed out, staring at the waning figures in the distance. "You left your country years ago, and challenged an Organisation you knew nothing about. However... you can't tell yourself that you're fighting alone anymore."

Vivi stared at the speck she knew was Luffy for a moment before she climbed to her feet, not paying attention to Usopp as he attempted to share his own words of encouragement.

"LUFFY-SAN! WE SHALL AWAIT YOU IN ALUBARNA!" she bellowed out to him across the distance.

"OKAY!"

* * *

Kai bit his lip from where he was sat beside Zoro. Chopper had spared some time to bandage and treat his hand but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something rather final about this... he could feel something sinking in the pit of his stomach around the same time a sandstorm flared up at Rainbase.

Then it happened.

He felt it.

A punch in the gut and he _**knew**_.

Zoro blinked as he felt Kai's bandaged hand latch onto his knee with an almost crippling grip, the other Pirate was chalk white, his eyes were wide and his pupils dilated.

"Kai?" he asked quietly so as not to draw attention.

"Something... something's gone very _wrong_," he breathed.

"Wrong?" the swordsman asked, keeping his voice low as he glanced at Vivi. Kai nodded.

"Something's happened to Luffy. I can _feel_ it."

* * *

The night was cold; Kai shivered and rubbed at his upper arms as they moved swiftly through the desert, Zoro was using Eyelashes as a makeshift dumb-bell just to work off some of his nervous frustration while the others sat in anxious silence. Perhaps Kai shouldn't have told him about that odd feeling he had experienced earlier. The odd feeling that had continued to linger but lessen as time progressed.

What was worse was that they had just learned that Scissors – the moving crab as Nami had named it – couldn't swim and in fact, hated water like every other member of its species.

"Crap," Sanji muttered, "Oi, there's the river! I see the Sandora," he called back to the rest of them.

"Please do something Scissors-kun!" Nami pleaded, clutching her hands together desperately.

"Oh! I know! Scissors really likes Dancing girls!" Chopper exclaimed.

"Like this?" Nami asked dropping her white coat to the floor revealing the skimpy blue outfit beneath.

"Probably."

Apparently Scissors wasn't the only one as both Sanji and Eyelashes went gaga and the crab accelerated dramatically.

"NAMI-SWAAAAAAN!"

"You managed to break TWO animals with your dumb routine," Zoro grit out, clinging to the back of the massive encrustation, one arm latched onto Kai who lost his balance and nearly went flying off with the sudden increase in speed. Really, what was so difficult about keeping at least a little modesty for that girl?

"Yosh! ERO-POWER!" Chopper exclaimed excitedly.

There was a moment of silence before- "And... how does this solve our problem?" Usopp asked sceptically as they ploughed into the water at full speed and started running _on_ it.

Until it sank and left them to swim the rest of the distance.

* * *

Dawn was just cresting the sky by the time they reached the other side of the shore with a little help from Luffy's Kung Fu Dugong disciples.

Now the question was, could they reach Alubarna on foot fast enough to make a difference?

"Carue!" Vivi exclaimed in relief, spotting the Spot Billed Duck racing towards him with what looked to be his parents and all of his brothers – each of them wearing a different hat and accessories.

Well... it looked like they were going to hit Alubarna in style at least.

* * *

"Don't worry Usopp, all you have to do is support me," Kai muttered in a low tone to the younger teenager as they raced through Alubarna's streets.

"Got it," he grunted, his voice shaking slightly.

Kai laughed lightly, "Don't worry about it. Just pick a good spot and shoot when you get a chance, don't let him get away if I get beaten. Make him dance; you're the best Sniper this side of the Red Line, you'll do great," he assured his crewmate.

Usopp trembled slightly under his mantel, but he was thankful for the words of encouragement. Kai didn't throw words like that around very often so they were to be taken seriously. He was right, Usopp could _do this_.

"Let's go!" the Sniper shouted, voice adopting a faux soprano in a poor imitation of Vivi.

Each and every one of them were wearing identical white mantels to match their white bandages – their proof of identity – as they raced towards Alubarna on the Spot Billed Ducks. It was another cunning plan of Zoro's. They would go in pairs into the city, draw out Baroque Works while Vivi waited in the sands with Carue and Eyelashes to meet up with Kohza, the leader of the Arabastian Resistance and Vivi's childhood bestfriend.

The two of them had managed to draw out the Okama – and didn't that make Kai's skin crawl – and lure him down an alley way.

"It's time," Kai told the long nose as they turned and faced the pink clad freak of nature.

"I'm so glad you followed me out here," Usopp shrilled in his faux soprano – which was even freakier in Kai's opinion, he was going to pay him to never do that ever again.

"Time to reveal our true forms, ne?" Kai suggested, his voice equally feminised if only to fit with the feeling of the moment, he was – strangely enough – actually having a little bit of fun with this.

"Too bad, you lose!" the pair of them chorused, throwing off their mantels to reveal themselves.

"NANI?"

Kai laughed, launching off the back of his Duck and lashing a fist out at the Okama. "Don't stand there and gape!" he barked as the ballerina ducked and lashed out with a pointed foot – Kai slamming a hand down on his knee preventing it from making contact as the two of them jumped backwards and away from one another.

"I know you," Bon Kurei growled, eyeing the young man in front of him. "You're the one who pulled me out of the water – but didn't stick around for my performance."

Kai rolled a shoulder, tilting his head to the side until the joints cracked. "Okama and I don't tend to get along. You guys are always _so_ determined to make me one of you. It's annoying. And anyway, I hate wandering around in wet clothes," he explained stretching his arms out and smirking at the pink-clad man. "You know Luffy and the others were pretty heart broken when they realised you were an enemy," he pointed out before glaring poisonously at him, making the Okama sweat a little. "You upset them, so now I'm going to kick your ass."

"I-If you think you can, CANDY-BOY!" Mr 2, Bon Kurei crowed, settling into a stance. "I'll show you my Okama Kenpo!"

"Bring it. Just don't cry when I break you in half, Big Guy," Kai stated, smirking in a predatory fashion as he dropped Kagai to the side along with his whips and coat, revealing the V-necked white shirt and black shorts he wore underneath – this was going to be strictly Martial Arts. Fine by him.

The two stood motionless in their stances as the wind billowed lazily through the streets, rustling the Okama's cloak and lifting Kai's hair. Distantly they could hear the sounds of the soldiers moving around the walls.

Something exploded.

"BALLET KENPO – AH!" Bon Kurei yelped as the kick he'd just lashed out was grabbed.

Kai smirked, "Open," he sing songed before casually tossing the Okama over his shoulder with a grunt of effort – he was huge and mostly all muscle, definitely not a light weight. The Okama landed on his pointed feet, bending his knees to absorb the shock in what looked to be a traditional ballet Grand-Plie move and launch backwards, just in time to avoid the axe kick that would have connected to his head.

"STOP JOOOOKING AROUND!" he howled, spinning backwards arms and legs stretched out behind him, his eyes practically bugging out of his skull at the crater Kai's heel left in the ground. "Give an Okama a chance to find his feet!"

"No!" Kai barked, "This is a fight! Stop pissing in the wind!"

"Such foul language from such angelic lips, ooooh!" he wailed dramatically, swooning.

"I'll kill you," the dark haired teenager growled.

* * *

The two of them were bruised and panting twenty minutes later.

They could hear the chaos of the Rebels clashing against the Royal Army and it didn't take a genius to figure out Vivi hadn't been successful in meeting with Kohza. Never the less, everyone else would be busy with Baroque Works thus giving her a clear through way to the palace and Chaka with which to do _something_ to stop the senseless violence.

Kurei suddenly ducked low and Kai knew what was coming, he had suffered this move pulled on him more than a few times before during sparring sessions at Hitsuzen Isle to know that it was going to hurt for _days_ if he let it connect. He threw himself to the left, rolling to his feet in a way that made his body complain half heartedly and, keeping himself in a low crouch, launched a foot up to the Okama's chin.

He dodged, ducking down and throwing out a pointed kick toward his ribs that forced Kai to cartwheel out of the way only to bring both feet down onto the Okama's shoulders and grip his head between his ankles, Kai grinned viciously, it was a move he'd used on Zoro before only with a slight variation. He'd been aiming to throw the swordsman in the name of training, now he was aiming to _hurt_ the Okama in the name of combat.

Kurei shrilled in pain as Kai wrenched his legs up and pushed himself from the ground, curving his spine and spinning them a full three hundred and sixty degrees in mid air – _repeatedly_.

Hitting the ground _hard_.

Up from his Sniping position on the roof, Usopp's jaw had yet to be picked up, what... what... _what kind of fight was this_? Sure he'd seen the bouts between Zoro and Kai during their morning training but _this_? Kai had never been so rough with the swordsman, nor so ruthless. He was out for _blood_! He wasn't even giving the other male a chance to gather himself, to prepare any of his special techniques or use his Devil Fruit Powers.

Kai brought his knee down, going for Kurei's groin, and the Okama quickly rolled over so that he was lying partly face-first on the ground, snapping his leg around quickly in a wide arc to sweep Kai's feet out from under him. The Pirate simply flipped himself over him, twisting just before landing and targeting a low side-kick at the other man's knee, who had by this time gotten to his feet and was aiming a _Douzo Okama Nakkuru_ at Kai's nose.

He dodged the fist and grabbed the Okama's arm, he was wide open again and moved in close, gripping the Giant's bicep in his other hand as he wrenched him off his feet and over his shoulder, twisting the arm trapped in his grasp at the last minute – a loud juicy _**crack**_ resounding through the alley way accompanied by the piercing shriek of pain from the other male, his arm snapped clean with the femur jutting gorily out of his skin.

Kai stepped back. "Sorry, but I can't let Baroque Works win this. Too many lives are at stake. Be thankful it wasn't your legs," he pointed out to the ballet dancer before lifting his foot up. "Time to put you to sleep."

"STOP JOOKING AROUND! **Mane Mane no Memori!**" he cried, slapping his face.

Kai didn't pause, even for a split second as he slammed his foot down onto Zoro's face. "Don't take me for an idiot, as if I could be fooled by some cheap imitation of _**my**_ Nakama," he sneered, glaring at the Okama before stepping off and moving away gesturing at Usopp to climb down.

"People aren't so easy. It takes a lot more than a face and a body to make them," he muttered as the younger Pirate finally reached him. Kai smiled and slung an arm around his shoulders. "Give me a hand, that bastard fractured my ankle."

"Ah, sure," the sniper agreed, wrapping an arm around the other male's waist as the Spot Billed Ducks gathered up Kai's belongings and trotted after them.

**

* * *

**

Alubarna West Block

**Medi Government Centre: Battle in the Residential District**

**Victor: Kai**

* * *

"It's not broken, just sprained."

Kai breathed a sigh of relief. After limping free of the West Block, he and Usopp had met up with Sanji and Chopper in the South District having slipped past the warring Rebel and Royal factions in the streets. At some point, the two Spot Billed Ducks who had been acting as their escorts seemed to receive some kind of signal and after off loading Kai's gear back to their owner, they saluted and bolted off for some other location.

The Reindeer and Cook duo were slightly roughed up but unharmed for the most part, Chopper had immediately sat Kai down and checked his ankle upon spotting him limping. A roll of bandages later and some careful probing with those very talented hooves, Kai could walk on it without problem or even much in the way of pain.

"Hurry up, I'm worried about Nami-san," Sanji barked, eyeing the city behind them in fidgety paranoia.

"You think we're not?" Kai demanded. "Nami has a new weapon, she's smart and she's stronger than she thinks she is. She'll survive!"

"But what if she's hurt?" the cook wailed, flailing his arms.

Kai groaned, chances were that Nami was just as injured as the rest of them, she and Zoro _HAD_ managed to draw the number One duo, she probably ended up having to deal with the woman while Zoro handled that grim looking guy – Kai had heard rumours about him, and they weren't exactly very pleasant ones.

"Let's go and find her then, if only to shut you up," he added under his breath as he got to his feet, testing his weight gingerly on his ankle before stiffening.

His body _**thumped**_ with something.

That same something he'd felt on the way to Alubarna, that dark worrying feeling that _something_ had just gone very, very _wrong_. But it wasn't Luffy this time, the feeling wasn't the same.

Luffy was fire and wind, a tornado, a breeze, it danced in and out of one's grasp but struck harder than stone and sliced sharper than steel. He was untameable, uncontrollable, he was warmth and light to his friends, he was destruction incarnate to his enemies, from candle to inferno. He was simple and straight forward with nothing to hide and nothing to prove. He simply was.

This... this was breath, breath and ice. It was cold and hard, it was clear and sharp and clean. It held no illusions, no secrets and no doubts, it was clear and cold and unyielding. It breathed, soft and slow, sharp and fast. It flowed and adapted yet remained unchanged at its core.

This feeling... it was... this was _Zoro_!

"Something's happened," Kai whispered, the blood draining out of his face. First Luffy, now Zoro? What had gone wrong? "I'll catch up with you later! Find Nami! She's in the North Block!" he shouted.

"O-O-Oi!" Sanji yelled as the younger male some how vaulted onto a nearby roof and vanished from sight, he huffed and sucked down another lungful of nicotine, "Wonder what got his panties in a twist..."

Chopper glanced up. "I overheard him talking while we were on Scissors. He could tell that something bad had happened to Luffy. Do you think Zoro's in trouble?" he asked anxiously.

Sanji stiffened slightly before waving a hand nonchalantly. "He's probably worrying over nothing," the Cook lied. "Marimo's too stupid to die."

"Do you think I should follow him?" he asked quietly.

Sanji flapped a hand, "He's fine, Kai's been stitching that moron up since before we came to the Grand Line. He'll make do. It's Nami-san I'm worried about - let's go!"

"Right!"

* * *

Kai never doubted his instincts.

He may have, once, in his youth. In that confusing time when he didn't know who he was and he was so frightened that one day Mihawk would just become fed up with him and leave – never looking back, which he had done. He may have, back then, ignored them. Brushed them aside, repressed them in an effort to be _normal_.

But bad things happened if he did.

So he trusted them now as they led him unerringly through the streets of Alubarna to his idiot of a swordsman. Ignoring Guard and rebel alike.

"Stop!" one of the fighters called, he didn't. Kai huffed as he ducked under the wild sword-lunge, slamming the palm of his hand up into the Rebel's jaw – tossing him aside like a rag doll and kept running, he didn't have time to play with idiots.

It was easy to tell when he was getting close, the neatly destroyed buildings – the clean cuts through solid stone, they were quite a big hint and knowing his Crewmate Kai would probably find him at the biggest pile of rubble.

A flash of pale green caught his eye.

"Zoro!" he exclaimed spotting the swordsman lying face down a circle of rubble and ruined buildings, Wado Ichimonji still clutched in a senseless tanned hand even as blood stained the dirt. Stumbling and climbing over the broken rocks the long haired male dropped down by his side, thin fingers reaching under his jaw and checking his pulse, slightly thready but safe – even if he was bleeding out entirely too much.

Rolling the swordsman onto his back Kai tore the ruined shirt off of him and stripped out of his coat, tearing the white material into makeshift bandages as he tossed aside the swordsman's blood and sweat streaked shirt.

"You'll be alright, you're alright. Christ, how much blood do you _have_?" the Weapons Master demanded as he awkwardly maneuvered the deadweight of the older man to properly wrap his torso.

"Not enough," Zoro grumbled, eyes cracking open hazily from where his forehead was resting on the other male's shoulder.

"Apparently not," Kai agreed as he wrapped the last length of fabric over the bloody slashes in his chest. "Was he armed with a chainsaw or something? You look like you got fed through a wood chipper," he pointed out, sagging slightly under Zoro's weight as he tied the bandages off, the swordsman burrowing his face into the side of his neck for a moment.

"Feel like it too," he murmured tiredly before huffing to himself and sitting back, forcing himself up onto his feet, staggering slightly with dizziness.

"Take it easy, you've lost a lot of blood," Kai warned jumping to his feet and catching him before he could fall over.

Zoro laughed harshly. "Not as much as the other guy," he pointed out proudly. He'd finally learned to cut metal, he'd figured out what Koshiro-sensei(1) meant by cutting nothing but being able to cut metal.

Kai grinned, "So, you finally figured it out?" he asked, "Told you to clean your ears out," he teased with a smirk.

"Heh."

"Zoro! Kai! There you are!" Nami yelled as she jogged over, limping slightly on a bloody left leg.

"Nami, are you alright? No wait, stupid question, sit down I'll bandage that leg quickly," Kai ordered, gesturing for her to sit down on a near-by chunk of building rubble.

* * *

"Half past four? But that's only ten minutes from now!"

"We have to find the Bombers," Vivi explained, her face pained, "Crocodile has it all planned out, everyone in the square, everyone in Alubarna, they'll all be killed. Otousama, Kohza, the Royal Army, the Rebels, you, everyone will die! Please, we have to find them!"

"Usopp, you're a sniper, you know this sort of thing, where would they be for the maximum blast radius?" Nami asked from where she was perched on Kai's back – the dark haired male unceremoniously picking her up and carrying her piggy-back style to the Palace while Zoro staggered along beside them, still a little bleary from blood loss but functioning with frightening capacity, considering.

"If it's going to take out all of Alubarna, then the blast radius would be roughly 5Km, so the enemy should be at least 2.5Km away," the curly haired male explained, biting his lip hard as he thought.

Vivi shook her head, "No, it would be close by, the nearer to the Central Plaza the better."

"How? If the shooter is there then – "

"That's just the sort of person Crocodile is," Nami told the seventeen year old grimly, her face hard.

"Killing his Nakama...?" Chopper asked, his voice thick with disbelief and horror at the thought of someone being so callous to their companions.

Sanji sneered, chomping on his cigarette filter. "I'd like to eat that guy raw," he growled.

"If you know it then," Zoro stated before the two of them whipped around, Zoro smacking the flat of his blade into the man's forehead while Sanji's foot cracked into his jaw – throwing the Baroque Works thug to the ground.

"How long do you plan on taking?" Sanji demanded eyeing the bloody swordsman up, ignoring the blathering of the Billions in front of them.

"We have to make every second count..." the green haired male reminded him before the two of them faced the idiots in front of them, Vivi paling as she felt something cold crawl up her spine.

"_Two seconds_," the pair of them decided.

* * *

Ten minutes.

Ten minutes to find a bomb that would be roughly the same size as Chopper's fluffy Guard Point and a cannon big enough to fire it.

Ten minutes to save every life in Alubarna from the explosion.

Ten minutes.

* * *

Kai panted, pausing briefly hands pressed against his knees as he struggled to draw in oxygen past his raw and painful throat, his stamina really wasn't what it used to be, he needed more training. Fighting that Okama-Bitch, running all over the place looking for Sanji and Chopper before heading off to find Zoro and then carrying Nami through to the Palace, and then running and roof hopping non-stop for just under four minutes.

He was exhausted, he needed oxygen and this fucking sand wasn't helping – he often breathed in more sand than he did air and tore his throat to shreds coughing it back up.

* * *

Six minutes.

Six minutes until Alubarn-

_**THUD**_.

Kai staggered, falling to his hands and knees, his heart thudding painfully in his ears.

Luffy... Something had happened to Luffy again... Like with Zoro earlier, he was on the verge of death...

Had Crocodile defeated – no, no he was, what? Kai coughed painfully, what the hell? That feeling, the dark realisation that something had happened to someone he cared for was suddenly _gone_.

What was going on?

Had his instincts lied? Been tricked? Or was Luffy just... It was probably Luffy.

Kai hadn't missed the bloody and dirty bandages that wrapped around his torso.

* * *

Two minutes!

Two minutes and he hadn't found _ANYTHING!_

"God fucking _**DAMNIT**_!" the long haired male cursed as he roughly kicked a Royal guard out of the way, there were plenty of old disused cannons littering the outskirts of the city, but they were moss covered and too far away. For the blast radius to be 100-percent certain of wiping out the whole city it would be to be practically in the very centre of it.

Red smoke flare.

Usopp must have found it!

* * *

Ten seconds.

Kai skidded; arms open as the other male tumbled into him – _hard_.

"You alright, Usopp?" he asked looking down at the teenager on top of him.

"You're late," Nami snapped as Usopp whimpered and clutched at his bruised groin.

Kai chuckled weakly, "Sorry, I didn't find your message until just a few seconds ago, I got here as fast as I could."

The group of three watched as Chopper and Vivi leapt to Sanji's leg and were flung up toward Zoro, Kai shifting and catching the Cook before he had an up close and personal encounter with the cobble street.

_Six seconds_...

"Our bullets," Miss Fathersday bragged, smirking unpleasantly.

"Will explode upon contact with one another," Mr 7 finished, laughing boorishly.

Kai hissed sharply, Nami and Usopp shouting as Zoro took both bullets to the chest, dropping back down to earth limply.

_Five seconds_...

"NICE STYLE KILLER BALL!"

Chopper squealed and immediately shrank down to his Brain Point form – Vivi soaring overhead from where he had flung her out of the way of the bullets, the young Princess pulling her weapons out with an expression of grim determination.

_Four seconds_...

"Where is she? Where is Miss Wednesday?" the two Baroque Works agents demanded, panicking and looking everywhere for the young woman. Never seeing her approaching from the air.

_Three seconds_...

She struck out, "SLASHING PEACOCK RING CHAIN!"

_Two seconds_...

"Pitiful," Miss Fathersday sneered, Frog Gun pointing directly at the former Baroque Works agent as she ducked beneath the strike.

"We have evaded them!" Mr 7 crowed, following suit.

Vivi's eyes narrowed, "_Counter flow!_" she barked, the chains snapping back as she landed – throwing the two Officer Agents out of the clock tower.

_One second_...

Kai grunted and yelped as he hit the ground, arms wrapped around Zoro as he finally reached them.

_**Zero**_.

* * *

"... D-did it... stop?" Usopp quivered.

Kai stared up at the clock tower, a bad feeling sinking in his gut as he tightened his grip on the blood covered swordsman in his lap. Something... wasn't... right...

"Vivi!" Nami called spotting the aqua haired girl as she appeared in the opening of the tower.

The Princess sobbed in a mixture of anger, helplessness and stress, "It's a TIMED BOMB!" she screamed down at them, "I-IF IT'S NOT DISASSEMBLED, IT WILL EXPLODE!"

"_Crocodile, you bastard_," Kai whispered his voice slipping unconsciously into English.

* * *

The explosion knocked them off their feet.

Kai was vaguely aware of someone yanking him down, and covering his face. They smelt of blood and steel. Zoro.

His ears rang and the heat burned his skin.

That idiot... That fucking bird brained, insipid, suicidally brave and wonderful _idiot_!

Pell... Vivi's childhood guard, Pell the Falcon, he had... he had...

"That bastard..." Sanji breathed, staring at the sky in horror and disbelief, "...Why?"

"In order to protect the country he loved..." Nami murmured as the light from the explosion faded away, taking with it the life of one of the bravest men she'd ever known.

Pell had taken the time bomb into his talons, and sacrificed himself to protect his people, his country... and his Princess.

Kai stared.

He was vaguely aware of being lifted to his feet but his eyes weren't on the sky or anyone around him.

Vivi...

"_PLEASE, EVERYONE, STOP FIGHTING!_" she screamed, her voice ragged and raw. _"PLEASE, EVERYONE, STOP FIGHTING! PLEASE, EVERYONE, STOP FIGHTING! PLEASE, EVERYONE, STOP FIGHTING!_"

"What are you all doing just standing here?" Nami snarled swiping at them, tears dribbling down her cheeks as she listened to Vivi screaming herself hoarse, "Just go kick them or whatever! _Just stop the fighting!_" she shouted at them, grabbing Usopp by the straps of his overalls and shaking him, "Hurry up! Save the ones you can!"

"_PLEASE, EVERYONE, STOP FIGHTING! __**PLEASE, EVERYONE, STOP FIGHTING!**_"

* * *

"Hey! Look!"

Kai grunted clonking the guard upside the head before following where Sanji's finger was pointing his eyes widening at the figure flying off into the air – leaving a trail of blood falling back down to earth.

"Isn't that... _Crocodile?_"

It was.

"I... I don't know where he came from but – " Sanji muttered staring at the departing Shichibukai.

"Who cares?" Usopp exclaimed a grin building on his face, "We know – _**LUFFY WON!**_"

The Strawhats cheered, relief and happiness bursting out of them, it was over it was _finally_ over!

Nami cried, flinging her arms around Usopp and practically dancing around with him in a circle while Chopper shrilled excitedly, Sanji threw his arms in the air and spun in a circle, laughing and laughing.

Vivi-chan, Vivi-chan was finally free! Her nightmare was over!

Zoro had perhaps a split second to realise he was being hugged before Kai wrenched him down by his hair and crushed their mouths together – not that he was complaining _at all_ as he yanked the smaller male in tight against him.

"_PLEASE, EVERYONE, STOP FIGHTING!_" Vivi screamed, falling to her hands and knees as the people continued to fight, weapons clashing, blood spilling. "_PLEASE, EVERYONE, STOP FIGHTING! _P-please, please stop fighting..." she whimpered, sobbing, "_PLEASE, EVERYONE, STOP FIGHTING!_"

No one noticed the kiss as the two broke away from one another and stared up at the Princess as she screamed again and again.

Kai flinched slightly as something cold struck his bottom lip, something... metallic?

"Rain?" he asked tasting the water before looking up to the sky and blinking away the water that fell into his eyes, "It's... raining!"

The sky rumbled as the sheets of grey water fell from the sky for the first time in three years. Cold and wet and _pure_.

"_**PLEASE, EVERYONE, STOP FIGHTING!**_"

And the people... stopped.

* * *

"This way," Kai called leading them through the mucky wet streets, following that queer instinct which told him his Captain was _this_ way and not _that_ way.

"Oh? There he is!" Sanji exclaimed, spotting their Captain, bloody and beaten up as he was, being carried on the back of a rather distinguished gentleman in equally bloody and mistreated clothing.

The man paused and stared at them, long and hard, before finally asking at length, "Who are you?"

Sanji smiled a little embarrassedly, "Err, that guy on your back," he endeavoured to explain, pointing at the seventeen year old with his cigarette, "He's one of our Nakama, thanks for carrying him. Do you mind if we take him off your hands?" he asked politely, somehow he got the feeling that being rude to this guy would be a bad idea – and he had been kind enough to carry their idiot Captain back from wherever it was in such a state, at that.

Realisation lighted the man's dark eyes. "So, you're the Pirate Crew Vivi brought back," Vivi, no -san, no -chan, no –hime or Ojo-, this person was close to her, close enough not to use an honorific – though to be honest none of them did either but they were just a friendly bunch.

"Who are you, Mister?" Zoro asked warily.

"Everyone! Papa?" the group looked around at the familiar voice of their missing Nakama, Vivi.

Then it hit Sanji, "PAPA? You're Vivi-chan's Dad?"

"So you're the King," Zoro muttered folding his arms and watching as Kai carefully lifted Luffy from the man's back and set him down, smoothing bloody black hair from the boy's forehead.

"I thought I was most certainly going to die, but this boy saved me. Even after besting Crocodile, he carried both myself and one other up to the surface without stopping to treat his wounds at all. He has such incredible will power," the King marvelled.

"Does that mean the poison is gone already?" Usopp asked as Kai chuckled lightly, hearing Luffy mumbling about Meat joints in his sleep. He hoped the Palace had enough food for him, because he was going to be utterly _ravenous_ when he woke up.

"Hmm, it should be neutralised," Chopper admitted sceptically.

"But the wounds should still be treated," Zoro pointed out before gently lowering himself down to the ground beside Luffy, swords leaning against his shoulder as he refrained from groaning in relief at getting off his feet. He huffed slightly, "Vivi, stop bothering with us and go already," he told her, bumping his shoulder against Kai's as he looked up at her.

"What?"

"Back to the Palace Grounds," he added as if an after thought.

Usopp nodded, folding his arms, "Right, you stopped the uprising, so without you and the King showing up and finally putting everything to rest, it won't feel like the end."

"You need closure, and so do the people," Kai pointed out.

"That's right, we should all go," the Princess said smiling at them.

Sanji chuckled, lighting a soggy cigarette, "But Vivi, we're Pirates," he grinned at her, "We don't much like politics."

"I'm hungry," Chopper admitted flatly.

"Can we go to the Palace to rest? I'm about to collapse," Nami admitted and smiled when Vivi nodded.

The group waited until the young Princess and her father were out of sight before they gave up the ghost, Sanji, Nami and Usopp collapsing on the water logged ground, Chopper toppling back and curling up while Zoro slumped over, still clutching at his swords as Kai tilted precariously before toppling and using his thigh as a pillow.

All of them bone achingly tired.

They slept.

**

* * *

**

(1) Koshiro-sensei

– Kuina's dad, I only recently found out what his name was. Thank you One Piece Wikia for all my One Piece needs! Sadly they have yet to create a swimming costume that will hide my monstrous stripper boobs.

**ARABASTA ARC IS FINALLY FINISHED! YAAAAAAY! 8D;;;;;; (dies)**

**Longest. Chapter. Ever.**

**I wanted to finish Arabasta in just two chapters – there were so many points where I just stopped and went... "Here's a good place to stop, excellent cliffhanger here and it gives me breathing room" but **_NO_**. Stalker of Stories would have thwaped me upside the head if I had. XDD (Stalker: Indeed I would have. She said she'd be done with the arc in two chapters and I was holding her to it!)**

**Give her love. And give me love. And give Zoro/Kai love. XDD First kiss in this chapter – if it could be called as such.**

**Hehehe, don't go thinking this relationship will be smooth sailing in the least. It won't be OMG!DRAMA but it will have it's rough patches, like every relationship. (And please, dear god, do not think that Kai is suddenly going to turn into a woman with a penis. Not happening. Ever.)**

Araceil

_Much love for Stalker of Stories, my ever lovely Beta!_


	15. Chapter 13

**IGNITION**

**Chapter Thirteen**

* * *

Kai was avoiding him.

Zoro glowered at the neatly turned down bed where the other male usually slept. He left early again, he had been doing that ever since Crocodile was defeated. He would wake before anyone else and come back late at night after they had all gone to sleep. People around the Palace had seen the dark haired Pirate from time to time and Chopper certainly received a few visits but other than that, no one knew where he was or where he kept disappearing off to.

Kai was avoiding him.

And it was very annoying.

Zoro grumbled and chewed unhappily on his thumbnail. It was probably just the other male being overly skittish about what happened two days back, the whole kissing thing. It had come out of pretty much no where, a bit of a shock to be honest but he didn't regret it, at all. He could barely remember anything of it beyond the fact that Kai had been the one to start it and that his mouth had tasted like dirt and blood. He grumbled and ran a hand through his hair, glancing at the sprawled out form of his Captain and snorting. What would Luffy do?

Probably go hunt him down and do something retarded.

Which really wouldn't work on Kai because the long haired male would probably put him _back_ into Chopper's care.

He balked at the thought of asking Nami or Sanji for advice on how to approach this, that was just... No. No he would figure it out on his own. But finding out where Kai was shouldn't be so difficult – then again, when you're one of the more wanted Pirates in the world he supposed you got good at hiding. Damn.

"Oi, Nami, you seen Kai?" he asked the ginger haired girl from where she was curled up reading.

The thief paused thoughtfully, "He's at the West District side entrance, down in the desert," she replied. True Kai had asked her not to tell but she was getting fed up with this drama as well. Really, Kai may have been quite the cunning son of a bitch most of the time, but in matters like this he was dumber than Luffy. Kai was making it more complicated than it needed to be, hopefully Zoro would smack some sense into him before other things – she refrained from giggling but only because the swordsman was still in the room and it would bring up some uncomfortable questions about what she was thinking about.

Eyeing the Navigator oddly – as her nose was bleeding – Zoro left the room in search of the other male.

He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that the younger male was avoiding him, he openly admitted his inexperience and considering the memory loss all he probably knew about relationships or affection was from his brother, who sounded like he regularly drowned in whores, liquor and blood. Speaking of said brother, that was probably another thing. His brother would kill anyone who made a pass and Zoro wasn't naïve enough to think that just because Mihawk gave him approval as a swordsman that it translated over to getting involved with his little brother. Especially if they were as close as both Kai and Crocodile had insinuated.

Still. If Kai was that iffy about it he shouldn't have yanked him into that kiss – or fallen asleep on him.

Dodging past the Marines, he quickly made his way through town, occasionally waving to people who greeted him as he went through the ruins of the West District, feeling just that tiny bit guilty for all the damage he caused in his fight against Mr 1. People were still clearing away the rubble.

Making his way down the steps, he eyed the sands. He couldn't see Kai anywhere but he could see a trail of footsteps, this side must have been sheltered from the winds enough so that they remained longer than they normally would have.

He hadn't gone far, just enough so that he wasn't visible at first glance from the bottom of the steps. Sat cross legged in the sand with a scrap of paper in his hand, Zoro's eyebrow shot up as he saw the card twitch and shiver, working its way across the dark haired male's hand.

"So this is where you've been hiding," Zoro declared smirking ever so slightly as the other male twitched and stiffened noticeably.

Kai slipped the paper into his pocket and glanced to the swordsman, stomach bubbling uncomfortably, "I've not been _hiding_," he refuted sharply getting to his feet.

Zoro shook his head, "You have," he stated and stepped up beside the smaller male who tensed further. "You've been avoiding me since the War ended. Is it because of that kiss?" he asked, staring at the other male unwavering.

"No," Kai snapped glowering at him from the corner of his eye. "I just... wanted to be alone. To sort my head out," he muttered quietly, looking away and folding his arms.

"You're a terrible liar," the swordsman pointed out.

"Yeah, and you're a pushy bastard," the younger male retorted glowering at him. "We all have our little flaws now don't we?"

Zoro arched an eyebrow at him, "Why are you avoiding me?"

Kai stared at him, the wind changed direction and swept past them with a hail of gritty sand grains and then the smaller male turned around and walked away.

"Oi!" the swordsman grunted angrily following, "Goddamn, Kai, stop,"

"No," the pirate snapped.

Growling under his breath in frustration, the green haired male reached forward and grabbed Kai's wrist, yanking him around to face him and jerking his head backwards just in time to avoid the fist that grazed his nose. Properly annoyed now, Zoro punched him. Which probably wasn't the best thing to do considering that not only was Kai far better at hand to hand than he was but also because Zoro was planning on trying to convince him that it would be a good idea to try that kiss again, and again and possibly a few times more. Y'know, just because.

Staggering slightly under the force of the blow – Zoro had gotten _stronger_ – Kai wrenched his hand out of the swordsman's grasp and twisted, whipping around and ramming his elbow into the other man's chest(1) before following it up with a strong left hook, slamming into Zoro's jaw hard enough to knock him off his feet.

He rolled to the side and back onto his feet just in time to avoid a drop heel to the back of his skull, Kai certainly wasn't holding back – he was _angry_.

Zoro got to his feet. Obviously they weren't going to sort this out by talking, which was fine by him!

Kai threw himself to the ground under the punch the swordsman swung at his ribs, twisting his body painfully in mid-air and bringing his feet up, aiming for Zoro's chest even as his arms launched himself off the sand in an awkward back handspring. Despite having seen this used against Arlong's fishmen before he still didn't see it coming. Nothing could have prepared the swordsman for the move as bare feet slammed into his chest and sent him flying backwards and forcing all the air out of his lungs.

Throwing himself at the downed swordsman, Kai had to quickly bring his arms up to protect his head as a hammer-like fist shot up at him. Regardless of how much pain he was in, Zoro was always the type to fight back, to react instinctively with a fist to the face – or a sword.

He yelped as his left leg went, Zoro having grabbed it and yanked it forward, nearly sending him sprawling across the swordsman had he not flung his hands out and flipped over him. Foot still in his grasp, the long haired male landed in a crab like position before sweeping his free leg around, hooking it under the green haired male's waist and _punting_ him like an unwanted stepchild across several feet of sand.

Zoro coughed and spat a mouthful of sand to the side, slowly getting to his feet as he eyed the long haired male stood opposite him. There it was. Those eyes, those narrowed, sharp eyes, just like a Hawk's. Just like his brother's – like Mihawk's. He had noticed it before but never twigged, but now that he knew what he was looking at he was shocked he had missed it – the resemblance was striking.

_There!_ He jerked backwards, Kai's left hook missing his chin by an inch.

The two brothers even had the same Tell, that slight narrowing of the eyes and hitch to their breathing a split second before they moved in for an attack.

Unperturbed, Kai spun, throwing his left arm behind him and his right leg up, slamming into Zoro's ribs. Grunting the swordsman clamped an arm around his foot, grinning as Kai wobbled slightly trying to pull himself free.

"Got you now," he taunted.

Green eyes narrowed. "Not for long," Kai sneered – and that was the only warning Zoro had.

Kai jumped, his body twisting in mid-air as he brought his left foot around and slammed it into the swordsman's skull – throwing him like a rag doll to the side.

Vision spinning, Zoro panted hard as he lay on the sand, desperately trying to claw in the air from his lungs that hitting the ground had forced out. He had to grin though, because he remembered that this was one of the reasons he had been first attracted to the other male – sheer bloody minded determination to never lose, not to mention the skills, creativity and ruthlessness to back himself up. Still, he wasn't one to roll over and lose either. This was going to take something a bit out of the norm for him, and he hoped to hell it worked or he was going to be put into a very embarrassing position.

Rolling to the side and pushing himself up, he got to his feet just as Kai threw a kick at him.

Throwing caution to the wind, Zoro lunged forward under the dark haired male's guard and tackled him to the ground.

He didn't expect the smaller male to roll them and flip. Zoro landed on his back with the younger Pirate on top of him.

There was a momentary pause as they glared at one another.

Kai's mouth twitched.

Zoro's glare softened slightly.

There wasn't really a trigger, Kai just shook his head and started to laugh. Pushing himself off the larger male he sat in the sand and laughed at how ridiculous they were behaving – him especially.

"What a fine pair of fools we make," he mused chuckling.

"You more than me," Zoro retorted, sitting up and wincing slightly at his bruised abdomen.

Kai sniggered, "Aye, me most of all," he agreed sheepishly, "Sorry."

Zoro hummed briefly before deciding to take his life into his hands and leaned over, gripping Kai by the back of the neck and kissing him before common sense kicked in and told him that his balls were going to get beaten into paste for this.

Kai stiffened, floundering for a few precious split-seconds, his first reflex was to shove the swordsman away and punch him.

First reflex could go fuck itself Kai decided, hesitantly leaning into the contact.

It was nothing more than a simple pressing of skin for a few moments before the two of them separated. There was a beat of silence and then Zoro smirked at him.

"So, why were you avoiding me?" he asked.

CRACK!

The swordsman grunted as he hit the sand again, jaw throbbing angrily from the force of the strike, Kai leaned over him grinning unpleasantly.

"You're an asshole, Roronoa," he stated irately before kissing him again.

* * *

Usopp couldn't put his finger on it.

There had been no change in their behaviour, nothing had changed but... he couldn't shake the feeling that _something_ had happened between Kai and Zoro, something good but he just couldn't tell what or whether it was just his instincts playing tricks on him.

Nami would giggle occasionally as she watched the pair even though they weren't doing much more than eating dinner and arguing about swords and techniques – Zoro suggesting them and Kai pointing out at least five different ways of getting past them. Chopper had told the pair off for fighting when they returned almost black and blue. Zoro's jaw looked like someone had clubbed it with the sledgehammer and Kai was sporting a bloody lip – were those teeth marks?

Sanji had eyed the pair long and hard before grunting and muttering the words '_about damn time_' and stomping off while Kai went red and Zoro started laughing.

It was all very strange Usopp decided.

Even stranger was when he got up to use the toilet that night and spotted Zoro in Kai's bed, it didn't look as though the black haired male had been suffering another nightmare... He must have just been imagining things, yeah, still half asleep and the moonlight was playing tricks on his eyes. Shuffling into the toilet the curly haired Pirate finished his business and then shuffled back to bed, secure in the knowledge that he was just imagining it, that the light was playing tricks on his eyes.

When he got up the next morning he nodded self satisfactorily, he was right, just a trick of the light. Zoro was quite comfortably snoring in his own bed and Kai was already getting dressed in the long white robe that the servants had been kind enough to provide them.

* * *

Kai hummed quietly flipping the page over in his book.

Zoro had opted for some training today and Kai had decided to read, but knowing the swordsman would overdo it and considering how he was still healing, Chopper would have his guts for garters for training when he shouldn't have. Kai was there as insurance, if something happened or if it looked like the green haired male was straining himself then Kai would stop him. One way or another.

Still.

His face warmed, how did Sanji know?

Nami he could understand – she practically watched them like a hawk ever since Little Garden, she was one of those terrifying creatures Mihawk often teased him about, the '_fangirl_' (and he had suffered fangirls more than enough to last a lifetime thank you very much Shitty Niisama). But how the hell did Sanji notice? He spent all his time chasing every skirt that rustled in his general direction, the idea of homosexuality was probably so alien to him that it had never even entered his head.

Though... with the guys at the Baratie... and the people that sometimes dined there, maybe Kai was being a little unfair. Sanji was hardly the most unobservant of guys, heck he was more observant than Usopp, Luffy and Zoro – though perhaps not as perceptive as the latter two.

Ah forget about it, he knew and that was that. At least he wasn't throwing three fits from Friday like Kai anticipated. He had been unexpectedly accepting of the whole thing, even ever so slightly encouraging now that Kai thought about it, all the subtle hints and such.

Kai's face promptly flamed, that meant he'd known since _Drum Island_!

How long had _Zoro_ known about his apparently not so secret crush?

The Pirate groaned and ran a hand through his hair, tugging gently on his fringe before shoving those thoughts from his mind. He wanted to read his book, not have his head explode from humiliated embarrassment.

* * *

The evening wind was just beginning to acquire a chill when Zoro decided to stop. Dropping the two giant boulders from his arms, he rubbed the aching flesh and looked around for the other Pirate spotting him fast asleep curled up against a fallen pillar with a book dangling from his hand.

After waking him, the two made their way back to the Palace – again being careful to avoid the Marines at Kai's insistence. He didn't want to cause trouble for Vivi and undoubtedly Zoro would have acquired a Bounty while Kai's and Luffy's had increased, the Marines would be all over them if they showed their faces and got caught. That would get Vivi and her father in trouble.

"Chopper's going to tear you a new one for taking those bandages off," Kai told him with a chuckle, nudging him in the side with an elbow as the swordsman began to push the door open.

"Not as much as you when he finds out you were sleeping on the job," he pointed out with a smirk before blinking at their Captain, their awake and entirely too lively Captain. "Oh, Luffy, you're awake."

"Oh, Zoro! Long time no see! Long time no see?" the Pirate echoed in bemusement, tilting his head.

Kai peered over the taller male's shoulder and grinned, "Welcome back Sleeping Beauty," he teased ducking under the swordsman's arm to get a better look at his Captain. And then clonk him over the head for making him worry like that, all the while ignoring Chopper as he scolded an uncaring Zoro about taking his bandages off and training when he shouldn't have as Luffy pondered why it felt like such a long time since he'd last seen anyone.

"It's no wonder," Usopp said flippantly. "You've been asleep for three days now."

"Three days?" Luffy yelped. "I slept for three days?"

"Yeah."

There was a pause and realisation alighted onto Luffy's face. "I missed fifteen meals," he deadpanned in horror.

"How come you're so quick at calculating _that?_" Nami snarled as she planted her hands on her hips in anger.

"And you counted five meals a day," Usopp added in exasperation, slapping a hand onto his face.

"SO THE CAPTAIN IS AWAKE!" the whole group jolted as the doors were flung open by a portly blonde woman in a pink cardigan and a chequered lavender skirt. She smiled broadly at them as a pair of servants followed after her wheeling a large cart full of fruits and nuts, "Dinner will be in half an hour. Does he mind waiting?" she asked as they pushed the cart in beside Luffy's bed.

Kai nearly burst out laughing at the look on Zoro's face, Luffy was grinning at the sight of her though. "Ohh! It's the Chikuwa-Ossan(2)! You're alive!" he cheered.

"I-I _knew _you were into that kind of shit," Zoro muttered his face twisted in a mixture of shock and slight fear.

"No, everyone!" Vivi exclaimed fighting back giggles. "This is Terracotta-san. She's Igaram's wife and the Palace's top chef!"

"Thank you all for taking care of Vivi-sama and my husband!" she told them.

Zoro slumped slightly, "You're kidding me..." he whispered. "A couple can only be so much alike," he stated to Weapon's Master who nudged him in the ribs, hard. Even if Terracotta and Igaram looked a lot alike – and they really did, to the point where it was slightly creepy – there was no need to be rude about it. By the Four Gods, he _would_ beat some manners into that man.

Terracotta politely ignored him, probably quite used to comments such as that following at her heels, "I heard you eat a lot," she said to Luffy, "Do you think you could snack on this food until dinner time?" she asked gesturing to the cart of fruit.

"Okay," Luffy agreed and Kai made the mistake of blinking at that moment because he saw Luffy's arm move and then the cart was actually empty!

"WAS THAT SOME KIND OF TRICK?" Sanji and Zoro roared in disbelief.

Luffy gripped his knees and looked at the pink clad woman challengingly, "Obachan! I want _three days worth of food!_" he declared loudly.

Terracotta grinned excitedly at the challenge, "I had hoped you would say that!" she pumped a fist, "I've worked for thirty years as this Palace's top chef, I'm not going to lose to some youngster's stomach! Eat your fill and leave the rest to me!"

Kai's eyebrow shot up, now those were fighting words.

* * *

Dinner was absolute chaos in pure Strawhat fashion.

Food was bolted down so quickly it was a wonder any of them had the time to taste it, they loaded their plates high as Luffy often stole half of it before they finished even a quarter. Sanji quizzed the servants regarding the food, Luffy stretched and stole food and spoke with his mouth full, Chopper ate so quickly that he choked, Usopp put Tabasco sauce on his food knowing that Luffy would steal it a split second later, Zoro drank his body weight in beer and Kai stabbed his Captain in the hand several times with a fork before the other teenager stopped trying to go for his food. Eventually things just degenerated into laughter and singing and even more chaos as Luffy, Usopp and Chopper put on a show by dancing on the table until people could hardly breathe for laughter.

Kai could only laugh along with everyone else.

* * *

The sight of the Grand Bath hall had been a shock after spending most of their time using the Guest bathrooms while waiting for Luffy to awaken. It was a gorgeous room made out of white marble with solid gold fountains in the image of roaring lions, large deep pools of hot water and showers lining the wall, the shampoos and soap smelt like desert fruits.

Kai had gotten an odd look from the King when he noticed him following them, a look which turned to one of surprise when he began to undress like the rest of them; apparently he too had thought Kai was a woman, how irritating.

"Don't run in the bathroom!" he snarled catching sight of both Luffy and Usopp racing towards the nearest bath, "And wash before you get into the water!" he added as the two slipped and went ass over tea-kettle, skidding across the floor on their backs, legs up, arses bared to the world.

Shaking his head the long haired male went about cleaning up, paying only brief attention to the two boys and their horse play, was it too little to expect them to at least display _some_ decorum while bathing with a King? Rinsing out his hair and the soap suds from his body he turned the showers off and glanced around in confusion before spotting them all climbing up a wall and peering over it.

Frowning as he made his way over to the baths he could only grumble, "What are they doing?" he asked Zoro in an undertone, making note that the swordsman hadn't joined them in whatever it was they were doing.

"Peeking on the girls' bath," the green haired male grunted his eyes lingering on the younger Pirate's pale skin before grabbing his wrist and yanking him into the water in a rare fit of mischievousness.

Spluttering as he surfaced Kai glowered at him as best he could with his hair obscuring his face, judging by the swordsman's muffled laughter his attempt to communicate his displeasure had been unsuccessful.

Still, the hug was appreciated even if it was interrupted by the cracking and thudding sound of everyone hitting the ground, bleeding from both nostrils after whatever had just happened – later he would find out that Nami had flashed them at the price of 100,000 Belli each.

"Thank you," the King declared thoughtfully.

"Dirty old man," the Nose Bleed Gang retorted.

"NOT FOR THAT!" Cobra spluttered leaping to his feet before plunking back down on his rear, sitting cross legged and wiping his nose, "For this country," he told them seriously his hands slapping down on the marble flooring as he bowed low to them, his forehead almost touching the stone.

Zoro's eyebrow shot up, "Oi, oi. You sure you should be doing that?" he asked, "A King doing that..."

"This is no small matter, Cobra-sama," Igaram chastised quietly, "A King should not lower his head to others!"

"Igaram... Power is something that is worn over clothes," the man pointed out, "But... This is a bath. There is no such thing as a naked King. As a father... and as a man who lives on this land, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude," Luffy started to giggle, smiling happily at the old man who looked up at him and smiled gratefully, "Thank you. Thank you, _so much_."

* * *

Clean, fed and sleepy, Kai only paid marginal attention to the conversations of the others as he leaned absently against Zoro drifting between waking and sleep.

Only the annoying tones of Mr 2 Bon Kurei explaining that he'd just stolen the Merry fully roused him from his warm and hazy stupor.

"WHAT THE HELL?" he snarled alongside Chopper, Nami and Zoro.

"Asshole, that ain't funny!" Usopp barked pointing at the Den Den Mushi, "Where are you now?"

"_**I'm on your boooooooooat!**_"

"I should have killed him when I had the chance," Kai growled heatedly.

"Of all the annoying bastards in the world," Sanji growled.

"_**You've got it wrong! All wroooooong!**_" the voice on the Den Den Mushi refuted, "_**Aren't you and I... frieeeeeends? Nya-ah ah ah! Nya-ah ah ah!**_"

* * *

"Can we trust him?" Sanji asked, that Okama bastard was holding the Merry upstream on the Sandora river, who knew what he was doing to her.

"We were friends with him before," Luffy admitted bitterly.

"The idea of you becoming friends again scares me," Zoro growled unhappily, arms folded and hunched over sulking – Kai refrained from teasing him.

"But... we don't really have a choice," Chopper pointed out quietly.

"That's right. He has our Ship," Sanji agreed unhappily. "If he's trying something funny we can just kick his ass."

"Then let's get moving already," Zoro declared getting to his feet and stretching his legs out.

Kai nodded as he clambered off the bed and reached for his gear, pausing as Vivi called to them.

"What... What should I do?" she begged. It was obvious she wanted to go with them but her duty was to her country and she couldn't just abandon them... or could she...?

There was a long pause before Nami got to her feet, "Listen carefully, Vivi... We'll give you twelve hours to think about it, after we take back our ship on the Sandora River, then at exactly noon tomorrow we'll swing the ship around past the Eastern Harbour _once_. I doubt we'll be able to drop anchor so if you want to keep adventuring with us that will be your last chance to jump aboard with us," she explained before smiling as the group moved towards the window, "If so, we'll celebrate – as Pirates."

"You're the Princess of a Country so this is the best invitation we can give you," Sanji explained as he climbed up onto the window sill, listening as Luffy demanded her to join them and Usopp scolding him. It was her choice in the end, they didn't have the right to make it for her.

* * *

Barring the drama where Nami caused Usopp to fall off and nearly get left behind, the journey to the Sandora was short and simple with the help of the Super Spot Billed Duck Squad giving them a lift.

The sight of the familiar pink clad man stood atop their Crows Nest as they slowed to a stop beside the Going Merry just made Kai shudder painfully and hunch over as much as he could without squishing Chopper who was sat on his lap.

"I WAS WAAAAITING FOR YOU GUYS!" the Okama crowed proudly, hearts practically plastered to his words, "HOW LOVELY IT IS TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

Taking pains to ignore and avoid the Okama, Kai took his time unloading their gear and bidding the Ducks goodbye with the rest of the crew. He didn't hate Okama, he had just yet to meet one that didn't make his skin crawl or terrify him – it probably wouldn't be so bad if they could actually pass for a half decent woman, but none of them could.

Bringing their gear up onto the ship along with Zoro and Sanji, he paid the former Baroque Works member no mind as he and Luffy argued and then began to dance and sing along with Usopp and Chopper. The four immature and excitable boys weren't causing any harm or getting in the way much at least.

Kai would be eternally grateful for a decent night's sleep after this.

* * *

"DAMNIT! SHOOT YOUR CANNONBALLS AT US SO I CAN BOUNCE 'EM BACK!" Luffy bellowed furiously as another barrage of large metal spears flew at them.

Kai grunted at he ducked, one of the spears narrowly missing his head as it broke through the wood of Merry's hull – bringing with it a burst of water that he forced back with a flex of his power and froze into place. Chopper had his hands full already patching up the other side while the guys upstairs fluttered around the ship trying to defend as much of it as possible and yet still not being able to do so with ships firing from every single side.

Explosions and swearing continued upstairs as Kai and Chopper rushed about trying to repair the ship as much as possible, Kai was seriously going to have to make them stop off at an island near-by so he could do the patching and sealant work properly. It was one of the few things in shipbuilding he had any kind of skill with, making sure things were watertight.

"BON KUREI-SAMA! WE HAVE A PROBLEM! IT'S BLACK CAGE!" Kai frowned.

Black Cage Hina, a Marine well known for her Devil Fruit powers, she had a spotless record as far as he knew and was a pure professional on the job. A very strong and skilled young woman, and not one of the corrupt Marines. Which Kai respected. He respected any Marine that didn't follow the example of their Higher Ranked officers and the pathetic _Purebloods_ they served.

Wait... Pureblood?

Kai touched his head and closed his eyes, brain throbbing, what had he been thinking about?

* * *

He had been unfair.

Kai watched with wide eyes as the Okama – no, Bon Kurei-san's ship burned.

It had been ingenious really, it had been kind but most of all... it had been monumentally idiotic. But he couldn't... That idiot Okama, Bon Kurei-san... he drew the Marines off, faced down Captain Hina and allowed his ship to be destroyed and his men killed or captured so they could reach the Eastern Harbour to meet with Vivi.

That idiot. That wonderful idiot.

_**

* * *

**_

It all began that day...

_**I've had a little adventure.**_

_**It began... as a journey over deep oceans and dark tides, in search of hope... away from this country, the ocean was vast and the islands in it had a power that was difficult to comprehend.**_

_**There were animals I had never seen before, and scenery I could never dream of. **_

_**The music played by the waves... was sometimes peaceful. Flowing calmly, enveloping all my smaller troubles... And at other times, it was violent. Laughing loudly, ripping delicate feelings asunder.**_

_**Amidst a dark, dark storm... I suddenly came across a small ship... The ship pushed my back saying:**_

_**'**_**Don't you see that Light?**_**'**_

_**Never losing its way in the darkness, always finding its way, that unbelievable little ship... rode the mighty waves as though dancing upon them...**_

_**It never opposed the sea.**_

_**And even if it seemed like they were just drifting, they only go forward, even against the wind.**_

_**And then in the end, it will point a finger... and say:**_

_**'**_**Look! There is the light!**_**' **_

_**History will likely record this as an illusion... But to me, it is the truth.**_

_**And then... **_

* * *

Chopper sniffled, "Vivi..." he whimpered ears pricked toward the sound of the speakers calling out through all of Arabasta.

"Did you hear that?" Zoro asked staring at the shore line, his arms crossed. "The speech is definitely Vivi's voice."

Sanji inhaled deeply, disappointedly, "It's the ceremony at Alubarna... looks like she decided not to come..."

"It just _sounds_ like Vivi's voice," Luffy snapped refusing to believe the fact that she wouldn't be joining them.

Sanji sighed chewing on his cigarette filter, "Let's go. It's past twelve."

"She _has_ to be here!" Luffy whined. "Let's get off the ship and look! I know she's there!"

"Oi," Usopp called, "we got problems, the Marines caught up!"

"How many damn ships do they have?" Kai demanded running up the stairs to get a better look.

"Give it up, Luffy. She's from a different world," Sanji murmured watching the back of his Captain's head. He had known that the younger teen cared for the Princess but was it perhaps more than was appropriate considering their social statuses and the differences?

"_**EVERYONE!**_**"**

The whole crew froze, the familiar cry of their missing Nakama echoing around them from the mainland. She was stood on a small rocky cape overlooking the ocean, Carue at her side, she wore a beautiful dress of white with a shawl and skirt wrap of pale rose pink, her long aqua coloured hair loose with gold ornaments that caught the light as she waved to them.

"Vivi!"

"VIVI!"

"VIVI-CHAN!"

"We gotta turn the ship around!" Usopp exclaimed bolting off towards the kitchen.

"_**I'm here to say goodbye!**_**"** the smiles froze on everyone's faces, **"**_**I... cannot go with you! Thank you for everything! I want to have more adventures but... I can't because... **__**I love my country!**_**"** she called out to them her voice resounding throughout all of Arabasta via the Den Den Mushi receiver in her hand. **"**_**That's why I can't go with you!**_**"**

Luffy stared at her for a moment before he smiled proudly, "I see."

"_**I...**_**"**

* * *

"_The Symbol should be an '_X_'," Luffy told them._

"_Why?" Nami demanded glaring at him suspiciously._

"_Because we're Pirates?" the seventeen year old pointed out as though it were the most obvious thing in the world._

"_But that means death to all who see it," Usopp complained not liking the idea of something that symbolised death to be drawn on his arm._

"_It's good. It should be an '_X_'," Luffy declared firmly, refusing to listen, "Yeah, Vivi. It's cool right?"_

"_Yes! I like it!" she said cheerfully._

"_Whatever, just draw them," Zoro ordered pointing at Luffy to remind him about what they were __supposed__ to be doing, "That's not the point."_

* * *

"_**I... I...**_**" **she was crying now, her voice trembling as tears rolled down her cheeks until she stubbornly brushed them aside.

* * *

"_This is perfect!" Luffy declared showing off the cross smeared across his left arm._

* * *

"_**I WILL STAY HERE!"**_

"_This is proof that we're Nakama," the Captain declared thrusting his arm forward the others following suit, the white bandages that hid their special crosses visible. The mark that meant they were Nakama, that they were true, the mark that meant protection and companionship._

"_**BUT IF WE EVER MEET AGAIN... WILL YOU STILL CALL ME YOUR NAKAMA?**_**"** she pleaded out to them, the tears still flowing down her cheeks as she watched their departing ship.

"Anyt- " Luffy began to call before Nami slammed a hand over his mouth.

"DON'T ANSWER! The Marines have already seen her, if they get any proof of Vivi's affiliation with us... She'll become a criminal..." she explained grimly, "Let's... just make this a silent farewell..." she murmured sadly turning away, unwilling to look at the young girl's face least her resolve waver and break.

"Hey... everyone... I have an idea," Luffy began fingers clenched on his bandaged arm.

* * *

Vivi gritted her teeth forcing back her wretched sobs as the silence echoed mockingly around her, fighting for each weeping gritty breath as her eyes streamed and her nose began to clog until...

Her eyes widened...

No words were spoken, nothing was called out but... but she could see them... all of them... stood with their backs facing her and their left arms aloft – sleeves pulled back and bandages discarded.

Hope swelled in her chest as the light revealed the black ink marks on their forearms.

Their marks of friendship.

She thrust her arm in the air, sleeve falling to reveal her own ink marking, happiness fit to burst from her chest making it difficult to breathe as they stood their ground, not noticing or not caring as the Marines opened fire. As the cannonballs landed so close they threw up sea spray across them, drenching their clothing and hair.

"_From now on, no matter what happens... This left arm is proof that we're Nakama."_

**

* * *

**

(1) Spinning back elbow

– difficult move as I well know, you have to have a damn good idea of where your opponent is and you've got to be fast enough to pull it off in a fight. It's a Muay Thai move I learned recently – I still have the scabs on the back of my arm from where I kept getting caught on the Velcro of my sparring partner's gloves. XDD

**(2) Chikuwa-Ossan** – Luffy's nickname for Igaram, loosely translated into _Old Man Rolls_, I think.


	16. Chapter 14

**Ignition**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**LAST OF THE CHAPTERS I HAVE WRITTEN FOR IGNITION. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THEM.**

**

* * *

**

They may have been leaving Arabasta at top speed but they were taking on water probably just as fast, even with Kai using his Ability to freeze every leak that threatened to burst. But with salt water being what it was, they were melting before Usopp could nail them shut.

He paid no attention to the chaos happening upstairs as he concentrated on freezing as many leaks as possible and not collapsing face first in the water as his brain swelled.

At least the Marines had stopped shooting at them, now Kai could concentrate on getting the water OUT of the room instead of stopping more getting in.

* * *

His skull felt three sizes too small for his brain as he leaned against the mast, breathing slow and deep as he tried to deal with the pain and will his eyes into focus again. Listening with half an ear to the whining of his crewmates.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Zoro snarled, folding his arms over his dark navy blue desert robe.

"We miss her!" the others chorused tearfully sprawled out across the deck under the railings.

"Don't cry anymore! Jeez, I knew I should have just dragged her on board," the swordsman complained with a huff.

Kai had to smile when the rest of the crew immediately started shouting at him, calling him Marimo, barbarian and natto of all things, Zoro grumbled at their reactions but otherwise didn't say anything as he glanced down at – what was he supposed to call Kai now? Boyfriend sounded too childish and since they probably weren't going to have sex anytime soon he couldn't legitimately call the younger teenager his Lover. (Just trying to get his hand down Kai's trousers got him with a rather nasty North Blue Burn on his forearm, he didn't try it again.) Meh, he'd figure it out later. (And maybe try that hand thing again – only avoiding the violent reaction this time.)

"So we're out at sea, well done," Kai cracked open his eyes at the familiar female voice. And the chaos that erupted at her presence. He supposed he should have been annoyed at the fact Zoro took a guard position in front of him but right now his brain felt like soup, he couldn't get to his feet even if he wanted to.

"Don't point those dangerous things at me. Didn't I tell you this before?" Nico Robin asked lightly, tanned hands sprouting from Nami and Zoro to slap away their weapons.

"How did you get on the ship?" Nami demanded, rubbing her wrist.

"I was here the whole time, reading a book and taking a bath," the dark haired woman admitted as she moved to unfold a deck chair, "These clothes are yours, aren't they? I'm borrowing them," she told the Navigator, her tone slightly apologetic if only to Kai's ears.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE BAROQUE WORKS?" the ginger haired teenager screamed, waving a fist in the air as Kai's head throbbed sharply making him grit his teeth and hold his breath against the involuntary hiss of pain.

"Monkey D. Luffy," the former Miss All Sunday intoned slowly, studying the wiry young seventeen year old with knowing blue eyes, "You aren't forgetting what you did to me, are you?" she asked curiously.

This had the predictable reaction from Sanji who immediately grabbed Luffy and started shaking him demanding to know what heinous crime he had committed on such a beautiful young lady. The ruckus, coupled with Usopp using a megaphone to threaten to call the Marines just made Kai's head throb painfully until he couldn't help the ever so slight whimper. Luckily no one heard him.

"You're really weird," Luffy stated unhappily, glowering at the twenty eight year old, "What do you want?"

Robin smiled, "Let me join your crew."

"HAAA?" the others exclaimed.

"YEEES!" Sanji cheered.

* * *

"Back then," Robin stated, "You forced me to live when I wished to die. That is your crime, take responsibility. I have no where to go and no one to return to. Let me join you," the Archaeologist requested.

"I see," Luffy admitted – he really didn't though, "Then that's all there is to it. Okay."

"LUFFY!" the others snarled in alarm.

Kai groaned as his brain throbbed.

"Don't worry," the seventeen year old chirped, grinning at them, "She's not all that bad."

The expressions on everyone else's faces clearly stated they didn't agree with him. Sanji being the obvious exception as he pranced around and shrilled the word '_Mellorine_' at the top of his lungs – until Kai kicked him in the back of the knees and told him to shut up. For a moment it looked like the Cook was going to shout at him but he just stared at him for a moment before grunting and making his way up to the kitchen, a gleeful light entering his eyes as he did so, no doubt he was going to make something for Nico-san.

As long as everyone stayed quiet, Kai didn't give a damn.

* * *

Zoro didn't like her.

She stank of threat to his senses and he didn't trust her, not in the slightest.

That dislike was only thoroughly compounded when he caught her glancing over at Kai repeatedly from where the exhausted teenager had fallen asleep against his shoulder. His grip on his swords tightened as he glared at her while Usopp conducted some kind of Job interview – an archaeologist huh? Not the sort of profession he expected of a former partner of Crocodile, though being wanted by the World Government at the age of eight was quite a feat.

That just made her an even bigger problem in Zoro's mind.

The fact that one by one everyone in the crew fell to her wiles was just more nails in the coffin of his dislike, really though, he should have expected Sanji – Chopper and Luffy were givens. He had at least hoped Nami would be against her but the minute something valuable was flashed under her nose it became apparent how easily their resident Kleptomaniac could be manipulated. Even Usopp fell prey to her with just a simple impersonation.

How simple minded could you get?

He grumbled and got to his feet, lifting Kai up as he did so, there was no way his headache was going to get any better with that lot making so much noise so close by. He decided to move to the front of the ship where he would not only be further away from that woman but it would also be slightly quieter as they were up wind of the others.

The fact that she followed them just pissed him off something _awful_.

She was definitely planning something.

"Are they usually so carefree?" she asked lightly, eyes lingering on the sleeping dark haired male for a moment before sliding up to the swordsman's face.

He arched an eyebrow, what was she plotting? "Yeah, it's always like this," he lied.

"Really?" she asked practically beaming at him.

Zoro sneered, his grip tightening on the younger male and his swords.

He didn't trust her.

* * *

Robin couldn't help but chuckle quietly at the high strung swordsman, he hardly seemed that frightening with Namikaze-kun curled up into him like that but she was well aware of how dangerous they could both be.

Though she had to admit, she never thought she would see the day where the usually so hot tempered youngster would sleep with anything akin to a threat near-by. Did he trust her that much, despite her past? Or was it something else?

After all... He certainly didn't curl up to just _anyone_ like that.

* * *

Chopper felt guilty, he couldn't do anything to help Kai and his headaches when he used his ability.

He was a Doctor and yet he couldn't help one of his friend's when they were in pain, when his body didn't work the way it was supposed to.

He couldn't even help him get his memory back.

The little reindeer tugged unhappily on his hat as he watched the long haired male stumble slightly as he joined them at the dinner table, Zoro hovering protectively behind him, grabbing his arm before he fell. He wanted to help but he didn't know how! He knew that Kai's brain was unhealthy, that it wasn't producing the right hormone in the right amounts for him to use his ability safely but he needed to know what that hormone was before he could create a drug capable of producing it.

He needed someone with a healthy brain and a similar ability as Kai, it didn't have to be as powerful it just need to exist so he could examine it.

Until then, he could only advise Sanji on what to cook for the other male so as to hasten his recovery and keep a close eye on him, keep him out of high stress situations and make sure he got lots of sleep – no night guard duty until he created the drug he needed to.

* * *

Kai chuckled as they came upon the island, it was shaped like a fruit. He thought he'd been to this one before. It had a lot of herbs and the like in places and the fruit had a very unique flavour that went well with a lot of foods and drinks – Sanji would love to get his hands on a barrel of it and they had enough vitamin C to lessen the strain on Nami's Mikan trees.

Before he got off the ship though, he caught Nico-san setting up her deck chair and approached her.

"Nico-san," he greeted with a small smile, the former Assassin smiling up at him.

"Good morning, Namikaze-kun. Are you feeling better now?" she asked politely.

Kai nodded, "Much, thank you," he admitted before sighing heavily, "I like you. So I will warn you only this once." His eyes narrowed as he unleashed a touch of his power, all the hairs on the woman's arms standing straight even if her expression never changed one jot. "Hurt any of them and I will rip your heart out and eat it before your very eyes," he promised darkly.

Robin nodded, she had received similar threats but this one... this one she knew he would carry out.

"I understand, I have no intention of harming anyone onboard, I assure you," she told him and Kai smiled as he turned.

"I know, Nico-san. I just wished to make myself inescapably clear. People tend to mistake me for someone who _isn't_ a Pirate after they've known me a while," he explained and she found her eyebrow moving into her hairline as he made his way to the railings and jumped into the shallows. Now who would be blind or foolish enough to forget he was a Pirate?

And how many pieces did they find that person in once Namikaze-kun was finished with them?

* * *

Usopp and Luffy were useless and didn't gather any fruit but at least between himself and Zoro they had managed to gather a good four barrels worth of the stuff – even after Luffy had eaten his fill from the original haul.

They probably would have gotten more if Zoro hadn't gotten grabbier than an octopus at a Japanese school-girl convention half way through. Still, Kai wasn't complaining.

Much.

* * *

Next morning was misty.

Kai was cleaning up in the kitchen for lack of anything to do, gluing back together the plates that Luffy had broken earlier by accident.

He paid no mind to the minor chaos that happened outside. He had learned fairly early on that he should only be worried if everything had gone silent or risen to the level of explosive – mainly because there would be explosives raining down on them.

The unconscious mini-Marine they brought into the kitchen garnered a wide eyed look though.

He knew the moment that the little Trainee Chef mentioned '_All Blue_' that Sanji would help him with his Curry dish.

Rolling a shoulder he went back to fixing the broken dishes.

Two hours later, he promptly dropped and broke them when the wall behind him cracked – Sanji's imprint splintering out into the kitchen.

* * *

Out of all the Islands in the Grand Line, Kai had very few favourites.

Hannabal just so happened to be one of them.

Kai spent what had to have been two weeks on the Island while Mihawk pranced off on some official business – and then got lost on the way back having been distracted by a Red Light District. Kai ended up having to go and hunt him down and drag him out of a brothel, he'd lost count of the propositions he received from both men and women that day. Good times, good times.

The long haired male laughed as Zoro grabbed Sanji by the scruff of his neck before the Cook could go running off after a scantily clad red head in a corset – probably for the best, that was Areishi Nadeshiko of the Ford Pirates, a very well known sadist with a Bounty of 230,000,000 Belli. Hannabal was in full swing now that the sun had gone down, Luffy was following his nose and leading them towards where he could smell the best food – Kai wondered if he would find the Hive before shrugging a shoulder, if he found it – he found it.

He long haired male froze and whipped around as a familiar feeling ghosted across the back of his neck.

"Namikaze-kun, is something the matter?" Robin asked having noticed him pause in the middle of the street.

Kai stared toward where he thought the feeling emanated from. It couldn't be... could it?

"Kai?" the long haired male glanced up as he felt Zoro place a hand on his shoulder, "You see something?" he asked warily.

Kai stared at him for a moment as if he didn't even recognise him before smiling. "Yeah, do you guys mind if I pop off and see some people? I'll come find you later, it's just been a while since I've been to Hannabal and I'd like to catch up with them," he explained, gently pulling Zoro's hand off and pushing it towards him.

Nami shrugged a shoulder. "I don't see a problem with it," she admitted lazily. "When do you think you'll be back?" she asked.

Kai shrugged a shoulder, "Probably back at the ship before Dawn, depends on what information I get and how long it takes to squeeze it out of him."

"Him?" Zoro demanded, brain immediately latching onto that one little word.

"Ja!" Kai called, already jogging away from the group – noticeably without answering the swordsman's question.

There was a moment of silence before Nami clapped the green haired man on the back. "Don't worry about it, Kai isn't the type to cheat," she chirped before continuing off down the path, "Let's go before Luffy gets completely lost!"

"Cheat? Why would Kai cheat? What's he cheating at? Oi!" Usopp called chasing after her.

"We'll tell you when you're older," Sanji retorted.

* * *

The green eyed Pirate sighed and shook his head as he drew level with the other man, marching their way down the cobbled street toward the Red Light District, "That was hardly very subtle... Niisama."

"It got your attention," the Shichibukai stated as he quite casually glowered at anyone who tried to approach the long haired teenager.

Kai rolled his eyes. "You're lucky my Crew aren't advanced enough to begin Haki training or I'd be having to answer a few uncomfortable questions – and stop my idiot swordsman from challenging you again," he added as they ducked into a pleasant seeming wooden building filled with blue silk and see through drapes. The Blue Koi was one of the more expensive brothels on the Island, incidentally it was the one Mihawk and Kai were most familiar with – though for entirely different reasons. Mihawk through hiring the girls and Kai through getting stuck with them and offering to help out with odd jobs and basically protecting them when they went out and about. It was built in traditional Wano style, wooden floors, silk screens that actually afforded NO privacy being that they were transparent allowing every activity going on behind them to be visible – and giving Kai the heebie-jeebies at the same time, he really didn't see the appeal in blowjobs, the very idea of them was disgusting. There were a lot of places like this all over the Grand Line, and somehow Kai ended up being dragged to most of them – Shitty Niisama...

The pair moved through the brothel, the girls greeting Mihawk respectfully and Kai warmly, attaching cutesy honorifics to his name, though there were quite a few unfamiliar faces around which surprised them. The Blue Koi was a very good establishment, the girls who worked there weren't forced into the profession, quite a lot of them enjoyed their work and even refused Kai's help when he offered to get them out of the business.

Entering into the storeroom the swordsman pushed open a door and the pair simply walked down the pitch black corridor. "Speaking of the swordsman, has he improved?" Mihawk asked and unseen in the darkness Kai's smile stretched into a feral grin.

"Exponentially. He has already discovered how to cut through metal; he's finally cleaned his ears out."

The Shichibukai rumbled in pleasure, it was one of the reasons why Kai always sniggered at his nickname – Hawk Eyes, the man really wasn't hawk-like at all, he reminded the younger pirate entirely too much of a big cat or something. Lazy, smug, superior, deadly when roused and prissy as all hell when woken up.

Arching at eyebrow at the door guardian, the assassin hastily stepped aside to allow the pair past – they were hardly unknown faces in the Hive after all.

Music and laughter greeted their ears as they stepped into the massive Pirate haven.

"Have you eaten?" the swordsman asked, glancing over his shoulder at the smaller male.

Kai shook his head. "Nah, we were on our way to a bar when you '_summoned_' me," the Weapon's Master teased as they moved through the tables and people.

"Am I not allowed to have dinner with my younger brother anymore?" the swordsman teased right back – though to anyone else it probably would have seemed like a very serious question.

Kai snorted and promptly stole his hat, "Only when he has to pay," the younger Pirate taunted, skipping off ahead to go and grab a table overlooking the Hive.

Smirking ever so slightly, the Shichibukai followed at a more sedate pace and studied his troublesome younger sibling as he chose a table that looked out over the balcony and practically threw himself down with a heartfelt sigh. Mihawk could only shake his head as he sat opposite, Kai seemed different since the last time he saw him.

When Mihawk ditched him in East Blue, Kai had been a scrawny eighteen year old(1) ball of hair who looked more like a fourteen-year-old than he should have (if he ever got his hands on the bastards who raised him, not even the Four Gods would find a piece of them when Mihawk was finished). When Mihawk first picked him up he had been weak and submissive. A civilian, a non-combatant, _a victim_, all the things Mihawk hated. He hadn't wanted to take the damn brat in, but Shanks had actually _begged_ him to keep an eye on the kid, so he did, if only because his friend asked him to. And yes, he would admit, the training he gave the boy in the beginning _was_ just an excuse to work out his frustrations and beat on him with an excuse. (He was a Pirate, a Shichibukai, he was _not_ a kind man.) He wanted the boy to break and run away, to be injured to the point where Mihawk would have to leave him with a Doctor and go off on his own for some Shichibukai Business and conveniently _forget_ to pick him up. But every time he tried to, not only would Shanks's face float up on his memory begging him to keep the kid safe until he could take care of himself or get out of the Grand Line, but the kid would pull something so inane, so unexpected or physically impossible, that he couldn't. He hesitated and dropped his guard and allowed the match to end.

It didn't stop him from attempting to abandon the boy though.

He had actually managed to do it once. Mihawk had been at his wits end with the kid, how he just could not handle a sword and he refused, point blank, to have someone who couldn't wield a blade associated with him in anyway. So he went to _an old __Rival_, a Pirate turned Priestess and Teacher; if he was to learn the ways of the sword, she would have to be his teacher.

Whatever Mihawk had been expecting, it certainly wasn't for the kid to become her protégé. Still it worked out well enough.

The Shichibukai left him there. Sailed away with a smile on his face and a song in his heart, he was finally free of the kid, he would be safe with her, he would learn how to defend himself and now that he was her protégé he wouldn't actually be allowed to leave the island. He was tied to the Monastery now.

Several months later he was enjoying himself in Sunflower when he spotted a slave auction, more specifically, a young woman barely into adulthood, her hair was black and her eyes a muddy green, her cheeks were freckled and around her neck and wrists were thick metal restraints tying her to a wagon. Yasopp always said he lacked imagination, Mihawk didn't, he had a very active imagination to be honest, which was why he suddenly felt angry at the sight of her. Angry because she looked like that goddamn Hairball, angry because she was chained down, angry because he had practically done the same thing as the animals who were trying to sell her.

He had sworn on his honour as a Swordsman to take care of the damn hairball for Shanks.

He had disgraced himself by ditching the little annoyance at the Monastery where he _knew_ he wouldn't be allowed to leave.

He left Sunflower Island that night and sailed straight back – after, of course, completely ripping apart that slave ring and killing anyone who made a prophet out of it and setting all the slaves free – only to meet the boy half way at Aqua Vita.

He certainly hadn't been pleased about being left behind, which he had demonstrated that night by quite calmly setting him on fire while he slept. Mihawk had to admit, if the kid learned nothing else, the skill to kill someone with no ill intent, to harm them without giving himself away, that was possibly one of the most dangerous skills on the Grand Line. And ironically, it had to be the one that the Hairball was best at. It was how the swordsman ended up getting Pranked whenever the younger male was irritated with him.

Mihawk still hadn't liked him, didn't like the fact he was actually stuck with the boy, but at some point in the following year, that annoyance turned to fond exasperation and then into amusement and then into affection.

Looking at the kid who had been such a pain in his ass, such a scrawny, weak and delicate looking thing when he left him to walk on his own, Mihawk could only sigh and sit in a position that would allow for a quick drawing of _Kokuto Yoru_. His brother had grown up, but damn him to hell for growing up to look like _THAT_.

Every dirty pervert in Hannabal would be eyeing _his_ little brother like a slab of meat.

Kai only rolled his eyes when he caught the possessive glint in the older man's eye, really now, he was old enough to take care of himself!

"So what's new in the World?" the younger male asked before Mihawk could start eyeing the nearest table and beheading anyone that looked at them funny.

* * *

Zoro was sulking.

It was easy to see for anyone looking, Nami found it quite hilarious to be honest. He was just lurking at the back of the group and glowering at anyone who came too close, no doubt wondering who this mysterious '_him_' that Kai was off to speak to was. Sanji looked like he was trying to decide whether or not to be disgusted or amused as they ate their dinner before Luffy could do it for them. Occasionally, Robin would chuckle slightly at him which prompted a dark glare in her direction, which just amused her further so Sanji didn't comment on the stupid Marimo's lack of respect for the beautiful Robin-chan. (What could he expect from a guy who obviously did not appreciate the fairer sex and instead snubbed them _completely_ to go off with another man? How impolite! Brutish and disrespectful! No, no, calm down, Nami-san would be very upset if she knew what he was thinking. It had nothing to do with being disrespectful or being unappreciative it was just... just... yeah, just... _that_. Just that. Yeah. Whatever _that_ was.)

At least they now had a chance at some quick cash.

"Show two hundred Belli coins to the man at the end of the passageway. That's the password," the Barkeeper told them as they began to move down the highly suspicious tunnel.

"Thanks Ossan!" Luffy chirped excitedly as Zoro led the group with the lantern.

"Can I ask you something?" the barkeep asked, "Why did you become a pirate?"

Luffy blinked and grinned broadly at him, "To become the Pirate King," he admitted proudly. "Besides... the sea is nice and free, right? Treasure hunting and adventures, there's lots of cool stuff!"

The barkeep stared at him and started to chuckle. "Nice, I like you guys," he told the young Monkey before giving him a smirk that spoke volumes. "Stay alive."

Whatever it was waiting for them at the end of the tunnel... when the door opened it most certainly wasn't the massive underground cavern filled with people, jaunty tunes filling the air coupled with the scent of food and beer and unwashed bodies and tallow wax. Luffy crowed gleefully at the sight of all the Pirate Flags, it had to be a Pirate Hub, just like the ones Shanks used to tell him about as a kid! It was a large room circular with at least fifteen floors and railings encircling the whole length of it, a large deep pool of water below and an old wooden row-boat suspended from the ceiling as decoration.

"Oi, Neechan." Nami looked away from the sight to a group of men clustered around a table playing poker. "You come here to bet? The Bookkeeper's on the top floor," he told her with a friendly grin.

Bewilderment painted itself across her face. "Bookkeeper?" she echoed.

The man's friendly expression turned into one of surprise, "What? You're here to enter the Race too?" he asked.

"Race?" Nami echoed again, her confusion hitting the peak just before she started knocking heads together for answers.

The man waved a hand, grinning broadly, "No way, don't bother! You'll just be wasting your lives doing that!" he told her.

Robin nodded, "Ah, so this is the place. It's been a while so I didn't recall it at first," she admitted stepping forward, realisation lighting her eyes.

"What is it? Tell me," Nami requested as the group clustered around their former Assassin.

"I was here before with the Captain of a ship I'd previously boarded. It's not regular, but they hold a race once every few years. Organised by Pirates, for Pirates, the anything goes Dead End Race," she announced, smiling at the memory.

"By Pirates?" Sanji echoed as he puffed on a fresh cigarette.

Robin nodded, "Ex-pirates to be precise. All the citizens on this island used to be Pirates."

"I see, I see," Luffy and Chopper chorused, looking up at the woman adoringly prompting a small smile from her as she passed them.

"The goal is different every time, but the starting point is always here," she explained, "Participants sail via an Eternal Pose adjusted for the Final Goal. The Rules are simple. Whoever reaches the Goal first, wins. The winner will then receive the Prize. Whatever happens en-route is your own problem. No matter what happens."

"Easy enough to understand," Zoro admitted from where he had his arms folded, absently he wondered if Kai knew about this place and about the race before shaking his head. Of course Kai knew about it, he knew about everything that happened on the Grand Line, this was probably why he'd gone to talk to that mysterious '_Him_' he spoke about earlier.

"As simple as figuring out what's going to happen next," Sanji continued lazily.

"It sounds so dangerous," Nami admitted. "It might not be so bad with a crew like ours... And it looks like Luffy's eager to join," the grin on their Captain's face pretty much confirmed her words as an understatement, she smiled hesitantly at the rapturous grin. "Hey, who else is entering the race?" she called over to the poker playing guys.

"What? You're really going to enter?" he demanded disbelievingly. "Well, I'd say about a third of the guys here are entering," he admitted, nodding to the centre of the room, that had to be at least over two thousand pirates, at _least_.

"Whoa! That's a lot of people!" Nami exclaimed, smiling.

"The guys at the bottom are the third favourites to win. See those big guys? They're Giants, Bobby and Pogo."

"Oh! So there are Giants entering!" Usopp exclaimed, smiling the exact same smile as Nami.

"And on the terrace opposite us. An old rival of Arlong, and the second favourite, a Grampus Merman, Willy."

Nami giggled, "Even a Merman!"

"And an old rival of Arlong's!" Usopp added, still smiling.

Nami chose this moment to punch Luffy in the face and noogie him, scolding him and arguing about why they _shouldn't_ enter the race, the strawhatted Pirate not listening to a word she said.

"So, how much is the prize money?" Robin asked, a sly smirk playing on her lips.

The man hummed in thought for a moment, "Hmm, if I remember correctly, it's about three hundred million Belli this year."

"YOSH WE'RE _ENTERING_ THE RACE!" Nami roared, pumping a fist out.

The man laughed. "You're getting off lightly then, see those two on the second from the top terrace? With the huge sword? Last time Hawk Eyes ran a race there were no survivors, took 'em all out before they even left the island," the man explained, pointing to a familiar form on said terrace.

A familiar form sat opposite their crewmate – who was wearing his hat!

* * *

Kai rolled his eyes and took a sip from his glass. "Oh please, like everyone in the Grand Line DOESN'T know you're putting the wood to Shanks whenever you two meet," he taunted taking a mouthful of his glass – just as Mihawk promptly spat his across the room.

* * *

Usopp's eyes practically bugged out of his skull, "Did Hawk-eyes just do a spit-take?" he demanded in disbelief.

* * *

Mihawk coughed slightly and wiped at his mouth delicately, trying to salvage what little dignity he could while his face burned bright pink and his irritating pain in the ass little brother snickered into his drink.

"It was just the once," he stated tightly, "We were both drunk – it doesn't count."

Kai stopped laughing and just stared at him from over his drink, mouth still on the edge. Carefully, the younger Pirate swallowed and put his drink down. "Niisama... I was kidding," he pointed out quietly.

The two of them stared at one another in silence before:

"Not a word to anyone," Mihawk hissed threateningly.

"Agreed," Kai nodded, sitting back with a vaguely disturbed look on his face.

* * *

Nami shook her head. "I didn't see that. None of us saw that. It didn't happen. They aren't there," she told them all firmly, finally managing to tear her eyes away from the spectacle, "Let's go, we need to sign up."

"What is that idiot doing?" Sanji asked weakly, his eyes still glued to the pair in the top gallery, the pair that had just been joined by what was obviously a very rookie pirate if his behaviour was any indication.

* * *

Kai glanced down to the hand that landed on his shoulder, taking note of the way his brother tensed and glared from his seat as the Rookie loomed at the long haired pirate, his breath reeking of old meat and stale beer. He looked like he had crawled out of a sewer and forgotten to bathe along the way to the Hive.

"Hey, Ojochan," and really, Mihawk shouldn't smirk like that where Kai could see him, "Why don't you ditch this loser and come sit with us?" he asked, hand stroking across his shoulder in a way that made his skin crawl with many oh-so unpleasant things. "We'll treat ya real nice," he purred touching his face while one of the Pirates on the other table paled to an almost transparent colour as Mihawk's arm twitched.

"At least you didn't cover the table with blood this time," Kai congratulated as he tipped the brim of his hat up, paying the headless corpse no mind as it toppled back, hitting the floor with a resounding thud as his brother flicked blood from the massive blade and slid it back into place across his back.

"Trash," the Shichibukai sniffed scornfully as the formerly missing head smacked down onto the table, the drunkard's expression still set in a cross between a lusty grin and a look of bewilderment.

Kai sighed and tipped back on his seat. "He was a Rookie," he pointed out flatly. "A drunk Rookie," he added before arching an eyebrow and prodding the severed head with his fork. "And you got blood in the chicken noodles," he pointed out, pouting unhappily at the loss of his chickeny goodness.

"Apologies," the older Pirate intoned.

Kai waved a hand. "Eh, it's fine. If you didn't kill him – I would've. Just aim the severed heads somewhere else next time."

* * *

Zoro's eyes were practically bugging out of his skull at the careless display of brutality from the Shichibukai and his... and Kai. He hadn't even seen Hawk Eyes _move_ before the Rookie's head was in mid-air.

* * *

"You're heading off now, aren't you?" Kai asked as his brother got to his feet, chugging the last of his drink.

"Yes," the Shichibukai stated, plucking his hat from his younger brother's head.

Kai sighed and patted down the resulting hat hair as he too got to his feet, he could sense the others near-by, he supposed he should hunt them down. "Remember to tip them well," he stated knowing full well that his brother was heading straight back to the Blue Koi to get his groove on and then leaving the island before the big race. He had no interest in getting dragged into the race this year, he'd done it once and it had been nothing but boring for him, too easy.

Mihawk smirked slightly as he pressed a kiss against his younger brother's forehead, "Stay _out_ of trouble Toriko. The World Government are up to something, there have been whispers about the Weapons, and the Admirals are beginning to move. Vegapunk has been getting more and more funding for his human experimentation," he warned quietly before turning away.

"I'll be careful, promise."

The Shichibukai snorted, sweeping off, not believing a damn word of it.

Now that Mihawk had left, Kai ended up having to deal with the crew-members of the Rookie the Shichibukai beheaded earlier.

Kai wasn't as ruthless as his brother, not anymore anyway, he didn't much feel like slicking blood up to the ceiling these days – feh, he must he getting soft in his old age, that or Luffy's whole '_Let Them Watch Their Dream Die In Front Of Them_' punishment was beginning to catch on. It was probably why he left them alive – beaten, broken and perhaps a little bloodier than necessary (he wasn't as ruthless as Mihawk but he never said he was merciful either) before deciding to go and find the rest of his crew. He frowned when he spotted Luffy on the decorative ship above him, a ship which suddenly plummeted down when some idiot pink haired pirate slashed at the support ropes.

A fight huh? He frowned at the man in yellow... was that a tattoo of a hook on his face?

An eyebrow shot into his hairline, Shiraiya Bascud, here? Now? How did he even get in? A Pirate Hunter usually wasn't allowed into the Hive, how did he bluff his way in?

He was good according to the Prostitutes he'd heard from, damn good. Known as the '_Pirate Executioner_' apparently on something of a vengeance kick after his whole Island was burned to the ground, his whole family killed. While he knew Luffy could handle himself, it would still be fun to watch.

Chuckling slightly, Kai decided to make his way up the stairs towards the top floor where his Captain was.

He frowned as he began to draw nearer, there was a third voice there and it was much too deep to belong to that pink haired moron who was chasing Luffy earlier. It was unfamiliar to him. Kai frowned. Didn't that pink haired guy have a tat on his face too? It seemed so familiar as well! He bit his lip and moved in close to the wall, green eyes sharp as he peeked around the corner and pulled back, air leaving his lungs in a surprised woosh.

Gasparde.

The Traitor Marine, Gasparde – nicknamed the General amidst his small fleet of Pirates despite never having achieved the rank while with the Government.

Was he entering the Dead End Race too?

Kai had heard bad things about him and his crew, worse than he usually heard about Pirate crews. The man didn't even like the ocean or piracy, he liked _power_ and he saw both of them as just another means of attaining it. The worst sort of human being.

Kai wasn't surprised when he heard Luffy turn down the former Marine's invitation to join his crew – though he did sometimes wish his Captain learned how to be a little more... diplomatic in his choice of words.

"He smells like trash," the seventeen year old declared flatly, scorn thick in his tone.

Movement blurred in the corner of his eye and Kai lunged forward.

He slammed Gasparde's First Mate to the floor – a split second before those wickedly hooked knuckle blades could wrap themselves around his Captain's throat. "You even try to touch my Captain and you won't see the sun rise," Kai promised as Luffy glanced at him and nodded thankfully, the long haired male merely smirked and gave a bow of his head even as he twisted the albino's arm into a painful position.

Gasparde was a large man with a very thick jaw and pale skin, he went shirtless and wore the standard Marine coat with the symbol on his back slashed out with two crossed streaks of dark red – almost blood in colour. Right now, he looked extremely displeased with the current situation, especially with his Second in Command being so effortlessly pinned down.

He smiled unpleasantly. "You have a good Crew Mugiwara. Don't let it go to your head," he growled, getting to his feet.

Kai pushed himself up, stepping clear of the albino as he hopped to his feet in a crouching position, staring at him with a mixture of fury, wariness and intense curiosity. Kai narrowed his eyes and shifted into a ready position, glaring him straight in the eye as they both went motionless in a silent battle of wills.

"Needles," Gasparde snarled as he turned, beckoning his Second to follow – or else.

Tense and wary of attack, the three younger men watched as the other two Pirates left in silence before allowing themselves to relax, Kai took his chance to observe the damage to the room around them as Luffy and Shiraiya spoke briefly. Eventually culminating in Shiraiya promising that the next time they met he would take Luffy's head as he walked away.

"You alright, Luffy?" Kai asked, touching his elbow lightly.

The Strawhat Pirate nodded and grinned at him.

* * *

Zoro was sulking.

Kai would have found it amusing under other circumstances but the swordsman was just being annoying right now, sighing slightly Kai clocked him upside the head before practically plastering himself to the larger man's side.

"What has your underwear in a twist now?" he asked in a long suffering patient tone.

"Nothing is wrong with my underwear," the green haired teenager stated firmly.

He poked the swordsman's hip, "That's not what I meant. You're sulking, why?"

"I am _not_ _sulking_," he growled.

"Of course not, how silly of me. You're engaging in an intellectual brood," Zoro shot him a dirty look which Kai just smiled sunnily to. The green eyed male chuckled. "You're not jealous that I ditched you guys to hang with my brother, are you?" he asked leaning against the railings to look him in the face a bit better.

The green haired male looked at him, Kai merely quirked an eyebrow up at him curiously. He honestly didn't understand why the swordsman was getting defensive over the whole thing.

Zoro sighed and looked down at his swords, at Kuina's blade before staring off at horizon. He knew that Mihawk was leagues ahead of him in East Blue, he had thought he had caught up, he thought he had been making a huge amount of progress by training with Kai and he knew he had. He just... hadn't realised that it amounted to very little compared to how far he still needed to go. It was... a blow to his ego, to be honest.

"If I had asked you before Arabasta..." Zoro began, "would you have told me the secret to cutting metal?" he asked, glancing down at the green eyed male, the one he was in a relationship that he couldn't put a name to with.

Kai stared at him for a moment before laughing lightly and nudging him with a hip. "Hell no," he exclaimed before smiling and leaning up to steal a kiss, "You would have never let me tell you anyway."

He had a point.

Shortcuts were for the weak and undedicated.

Smirking slightly, the swordsman dipped down and claimed the smaller Pirate's mouth again, thankful that they were alone for at least five minutes. (Without Nami shamelessly watching them from the nearest window, corner or even through the leaves of her Mikan trees.)

* * *

Even though he was under Chopper's orders to get plenty of rest and not to exert himself, Kai still got up at the same time as the rest of the boys – the last time he dared to sleep in he woke up just as Zoro tried to get in a molesty grope, the rest of the group having already left. Kai kicked him in the head before fleeing into the kitchen where Robin greeted him with a smirk and a sugary sweet '_Good morning Namikaze-kun_' as if she hadn't just been using her Devil Fruit powers to watch the whole thing. He was surrounded by dirty perverted voyeurs.

Sitting himself on the railings next to the figure head he kept out of trouble as much as possible as he ate his apple and kept an eye on the ever sleepy and somewhat clumsy Luffy – morning creature his Captain was not.

The Eternal Pose was still baffling Nami though – at least Luffy was properly awake now.

"It's still pointing at that mountain," she complained in bemusement, a slight frown creasing her face.

"What's wrong Nami?" Luffy asked as he stretched down from the rigging – Sanji going down the shrouds like a sane person.

"The Eternal Pose is still pointing over that mountain," the Navigator explained.

"Is that Start Point over there?" Sanji asked.

Nami shook her head, "No, The Bookkeeper specifically told me this town was the start point."

"It is," Kai stated smiling as he hopped off his railing and tossed his apple core overboard. "It's like Reverse Mountain but it works on a seasonal basis. Every few years according to the alignments of the Moon and the weather systems in the Partia region, there's a huge current of water accompanied by a massive gale-force wind that sweeps through the area. It's why Hannabal is shaped the way it is. The wind and water currents will surge the ship straight up the mountain just like East Blue," he explained before smirking, "And right to the Grand Fall."

"Grand Fall?" Usopp asked, not liking the way his Crewmate was smiling.

Kai just chuckled, "You'll find out when you get there. Just remember, after the Grand Fall, the race starts so be prepared to shoot some people in the face."

Robin laughed, "Sound advice," she complimented.

Kai gave her a theatrical bow as Nami twitched, like a dog who had just heard someone call its name.

"Its here!" she exclaimed, her hypersensitivity to the air currents spurring her into action, "Luffy, hurry and reinforce the yards! Usopp, take the helm! Chopper, watch the aft! Sanji, Zoro, watch the shrouds on both sides of the mast!" she barked, pointing at each member of the crew as they scurried off to their assigned tasks. Kai moving to the front of the ship just in case the gale was that little too strong and sent them arse over teakettle – even though Chopper would have his guts for garters, Kai would just have to use his ability to stop them from destroying the ship and drowning.

There was a moment of absolute calm, Kai could feel the water beneath the ship preparing, building, green eyes widened as Nami whispered under her breath.

It was here.

The ship jerked with the force of the sail snapping full, the Merry surging forward so quickly it threatened to flip as they shot towards a tunnel leading straight through the town – the makeshift bridges having been removed for the event so the ships could travel up the Mountain without running into any of them.

Kai smiled at the crowds of cheering people, he could see the girls from the Blue Koi stood on the roof waving and cheering for them, he laughed and waved back at them.

"We bet on you Kai! You'd better win!"

"I have three thousand riding on you little brother! Do us proud!"

"Strawhats go!"

They were perhaps the only ones shouting such positive things to them, ah well, Kai laughed, they were the only ones he gave a damn about to be honest.

"Introduce me to your Captain later!" he was just going to pretend he didn't hear that.

"Your brother says you had better win or you're disowned!" and he was going to kick Mihawk in the nuts next time he saw the bastard. Oh damn he was going to do that this time for that Corset gag back in Loguetown! Damnit! Curse his faulty memory!

He clung to the railings as they began to climb the mountain, a quick glance confirmed that they weren't going to be loosing anyone soon – though he wondered who would throttle him first for not telling them about the Grand Fall. (It was always much more fun to see the looks on their faces when they got their first eyeballing at what awaited them at the top of the mountain.)

He glanced over his shoulder as they crested the hill, sunlight hitting them head on and illuminating the expressions on their faces – and the cigarette falling from Sanji's open mouth.

Luffy yelled gleefully as they shot over the Grand Fall and plummeted down the entire length of the mountain – because the Grand Fall was, as its name suggested, a giant waterfall!

Kai laughed and whooped as they fell, Nami shrieking curse words at him while Luffy cackled.

The ship jerked and shuddered as they hit the river again, bouncing slightly and making Kai momentarily think of what damage that might do to the ship.

"Navigator-san! This isn't the time to be overwhelmed! The race has begun!" Robin called to the younger girl whose face was blue as she foamed at the mouth, the Archaeologist spotting the Merman Willy shred a smaller ship to splinters.

All around them ships were destroying and firing on one another. "What are they doing?" Usopp howled in horror.

"The race has started," Zoro stated in explanation, grinning.

"From this point on: Anything goes!" Robin called.

"Usopp, go stand guard on the aft deck!" Nami commanded making Usopp jolt and tear up.

"Me?" he squeaked before slumping and shuffling off to do as he was told. Kai just laughed and jumped up, kicking a cannon ball away from the ship and back to its sender.

Luffy dashed past him and hopped up onto his favourite seat, laughing happily at the carnage all around them.

"Chopper! Cut the Helm!" Nami called as they approached a sharp bend in the river – Kai was quite certain the town's designer had put that there simply to cut the numbers of the race participants.

"I can't! It's stuck!" the Reindeer wailed, heaving on the steering pole.

"We'll crash at this rate!" Nami shrieked as they surged toward the bend, too fast to turn and without enough space to do so either.

"If I kicked the ship from below, would it help cushion it?" Zoro asked, actually serious – which was the worrying thing.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Nami shouted before blinking as realisation hit, "Ah, _cushion_. Luffy!" she sang.

"**GOMU GOMU NO FUUSEN!**" Kai winced slightly in sympathy as the ship impacted with Luffy's inflated body, _hard_ before rolling off him and straight into the air – just like those Giants – Bobby and Pogo – did before them.

"**Grand Fleur!**" the former Miss All Sunday commanded, hands held in a cross position in front of her, millions of hands sprouting from the side of the ship and forming a giant hand that reached toward one of the near-by buildings, yanking them back towards the river.

"NIIIIIIIIICE ROOOOOBIIIIIN!" Luffy crowed as he flew along behind the ship attached to the railings on rubber arms.

Kai laughed as Sanji lit himself another cigarette, the ship peeling out from the mouth of the river and into open Ocean. "Man, its unreal how often this sort of thing happens to us," the cook complained as he shook his matchstick out and tossed the burnt splinter of wood overboard. "I'm surprised we've survived this long."

Nami laughed nervously. "Thank you Robin-neesan! Just as I planned!" the eighteen year old chirped, hands clasped to her chest to prevent her wildly beating heart from escaping out her ribcage.

"LIAR!" Zoro snapped.

Robin laughed, "Well, we're on our way. Let's enjoy the rest of the ride."

"Yeah, I'm really pumped!" Luffy crowed slapping the side of the ship. "Looks like we're at the tail of the pack but this is just the beginning! This is why it's great to be a Pirate!" he exclaimed excitedly as Nami could be heard chanting '_three hundred million Belli, three hundred million Belli, three hundred million Belli_' under her breath, "YOSH! LET'S GO EVERYONE!" the Pirate commanded, ignoring or not hearing Usopp's complaint of his '_mustn't-leave-this-island-or-I'll-die_' disease acting up again.

Kai could only laugh and cheer along with Luffy.

* * *

A gunshot tore through the air from the bathroom, making everyone jerk as though someone had just taken a stick and jammed it up their backside's simultaneously.

"Zoro!" Kai called vaulting over the railings, the rest of the crew thundering after him only to stop in the doorway, stunned at the sight of their swordsman holding an unconscious kid. His expression was a mixture of horror, disgust and confusion as he looked at them and wiggled the unconscious kid in mid-air, "How the hell did he sneak on board?" the swordsman asked.

Kai frowned slightly before blushing faintly and arching his eyebrow, Zoro was on watch last night so it must have been when the swordsman had decided to... er... well for lack of any better words '_try his luck_'. (For the record, he wasn't that lucky.)

* * *

Well, dinner _and_ a show.

Watching the kid freak out not only over Chopper but Luffy was quite amusing from where he was sat beside Zoro. Still... the kid was walking a slippery slope – and she managed to piss Nami off at the same time.

"Zoro, I'm borrowing your Katana," the thief growled, getting to her feet and hopping over the two of them.

"Don't step over people," the swordsman grunted closing his eyes carelessly.

"Why don't you quit the self-pity crap," Nami growled marching toward the child, unsheathing Wado Ichimonji, heedless of Chopper's growing distress. "If that's really how you feel, then I'll give you what you want!" she barked.

"Stop Nami!" Chopper squeaked scurrying in front of her.

"Stay out of this!" the thief ordered, completely beyond all reason. "This is what pisses me off the most! No reason to keep living?" she demanded, seething. "IF YOU'RE ALIVE YOU CAN'T TALK ABOUT DYING!"

Ah, so that was what this was about. Kai sighed and leaned his head back on Zoro's shoulder, she was upset because the kid was going to give up and die when Nami put herself through eight years of hell. That the kid wanted to die when Nami wanted so desperately for her mother to live.

"Lunch is ready!" Sanji called, setting a large pot of stew and dumplings on the table while Chopper worked on restraining Nami and the rest of them tucked into the meal – ignoring the drama going on behind their backs. Nami wouldn't really kill the kid, scare her into pissing on herself sure, but she wasn't a murderer regardless of how badly someone upset her.

"_Itadekimasu!_" the group chorused.

"I'LL TAKE YOUR STUPID IDEAS AND CUT THEM IN HALF!"

* * *

So far the race had been going surprisingly well, minus a few hiccups.

Like the Sea Kings.

And their Eternal Pose taking them to the wrong place – to Navarone, the Marine Base.

A fake, a ruse, a _game_ for Gasparde. Pirates stabbing Pirates in the back and the kid, the kid they'd brought on board was one of Gasparde's prisoners, she tried to kill them to get the Bounty, to buy medicine for her Grandfather who was sick and trapped on Gasparde's ship. What a mess. They needed to find that bastard soon to not only rescue the old man but to also beat the crap out of that so called General – you don't fuck over your fellow Pirates with tactics like that! It just wasn't done! It was cowardly and disgusting! That was something the _marines_ did, or worse, _Akainu_.

But they didn't have a way of getting to Partia, the Eternal Pose was a fake and Chopper's nose couldn't detect anything with all the gun-powder in the air.

Kai sighed, he wasn't particularly fond of revealing this part of his past. It was more than a little embarrassing and he knew damn well that Sanji would never let him live it down.

"I know the way to Partia," the long haired pirate announced, staring at the Marine base and refusing to look at the rest of the crew, "It's that way. Seventy miles that way," he stated pointing to the right.

"How do you know that?" Nami asked.

Kai shuddered slightly, "_By way of the West Wind and the chaos of the skies, here reigneth Second King Amba, the Tiger Lord of Sky and Storm_. Partia is a Sacred Island. It's that way," he explained, not exactly explaining but still giving them enough information.

"Amba?" Robin echoed, a frown on her face, she had heard that name before but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"It's this way, trust me. When we get close enough, Chopper can use his nose to guide us to Gasparde's ship, the Salamander," Kai explained as he dropped his arm.

"Let's go," Luffy commanded.

* * *

He could hear them whispering, the sea and the sky, calling to him.

Kai shook his head, he wouldn't get caught up in that again, he refused! He had left that behind him!

But apparently not enough if a simple invocation was enough to move them. To bring their attention to him.

A Cyclone was coming. A big one.

Sea and Sky agreed, they surged and formed and this Cyclone was to display their full power, the strength the Gods could quite casually throw at the mortals who displeased them. But they weren't angry with him, no, he could tell that much from the snatched rumbles and hissing that whispered like forgotten silk drapes across the floor.

But... They wanted something from him and they would have their way – Kai knew that much.

He knew he would have to come clean eventually.

He just hoped that he would still have his freedom when he did.

* * *

"GAAAAASPAAAAARDE!"

"Quite a pair of lungs on him," Kai muttered as he leaned against the railings as the Merry approached the Salamander – it seemed crippled, someone had already started the party it seemed.

"Luffy, go ahead and bust a move!" Nami called from the kitchen door as the Salamander open fire at them.

"Right! **GOMU GOMU NO PISTOL – AND ROCKET!**" the young Pirate bellowed, stretching his arm out and flying into the Salamander with enough force to destroy a good portion of it.

And then they saw him slice through one of the Masts with his foot.

"Oh, sounds like he's having fun," Sanji stated as the Merry pulled aside the large metal monstrosity.

"Make sure you take us straight there," Zoro said to the kid while Sanji spun a rope in his hand aiming for the ship's railings.

"Right."

"This guy has a habit of getting lost," Sanji pointed out with a broad grin as Zoro flushed irritably – Kai refrained from pinching his cheeks if only because he knew it would just make the situation worse, funny though it would have been.

"Shut yer hole," the swordsman growled as the cook sniggered and flung the grappling hook onto the Salamander.

"Yosh! I'll back you up so go about your business," Usopp declared, folding his arms sternly – this time Kai didn't refrain from pinching his cheeks and cooing obnoxiously over how manly he was trying to be, the Sniper squeaked and tried to bat him away while Sanji, Zoro and the kid quickly climbed up onto the ship, Zoro carrying the girl under his arm and ignoring her thrashing and snapping at him. He had _such_ a way with kids. Kai snorted.

Deciding to leave Usopp alone for now – as both his cheeks looked painfully pink – Kai sat back to await the others with Nami and Robin, eyes flickering towards the horizon. A cyclone was coming. A big one.

"Nami-swan! We're done here!" Sanji simpered from the Salamander.

"Good, hurry up and get back on board! Something's weird!" the Navigator called back, the cook grunted in confusion, "The weather is really weird!" she elaborated.

Kai's eyebrow shot up again as Zoro descended from the ship – conspicuously minus a certain old man that he was _supposed_ to be bringing on board for Chopper to take a look at. At least he hadn't lost the girl in the process. Waiting until they hit the deck and the swordsman allowed the little girl back to her feet, Kai hopped off his perch and grabbed the green haired male's shoulder, yanking him down far enough to hiss in his ear.

"What happened? Where's the old guy?" he asked, green eyes flickering to the girl in the hat as she jumped onto the railings, feet swinging with effort as she used her chest and elbows to stay aloft.

"He said he had something to take care of, that he'd catch up later," he explained, shooting the girl a glance as well before pulling Kai a little closer, "He's going to blow the ship I think."

The Weapons' Master frowned slightly, but to be absolutely certain of that he would – green eyes widened as he jerked back to stare opened mouthed at the swordsman who nodded grimly. Kai whipped his head around to stare at the girl, oh Gods Above and Below, how would she fare with her beloved Grandfather's death?

"Any way of stopping him?" he asked looking back up at the swordsman. He shook his head slowly making the smaller male growl and look away even as he could hear a fight finally break out on board the Salamander – along with the sound of the boilers beginning to rattle as the overload set in. What would be waiting for that little girl after the old man died? He got the feeling she had no where else to go... perhaps he could talk the rest of the crew into letting her hitch a ride with them to Water 7, if she had been working on the Salamander then she must know something about Steam Engines, Iceburg-sama would be more than welcoming of her.

"Oi, oi..." Sanji muttered from where he was still stood at the railings of Gasparde's ship, he moved away to go and aid Luffy as the seventeen year old grunted in pain.

"Stay out of it," Zoro ordered as Kai slipped away from his side, hands balled into fists, "This is his fight. He'll get mad if you step in."

"But that Candy-Bastard is strong," Sanji protested half-heartedly, stopping in his tracks and staying there even as his upper body leaned forward – still wanting to help but respecting his Captain's desires even more. There was a moment of silence aside from the sound of flesh hitting flesh before inspiration struck the cook. "Hey, wait here for me!" he requested before running off.

"**GOMU GOMU NO-**

"Whoa! That still freaks me out!" they heard Sanji yelp.

"**KANE!**"

* * *

The wind was getting worse, the Cyclone was forming on the horizon.

"**GOMU GOMU NO ONO! GOMU GOMU NO BAKU BAKU!**" Kai twitched at the title of that last attack, Baku Baku? As in the Baku Baku no Mi from Drum Island? That fat king Wapol who ate everything? Did Luffy just _eat_ a chunk of Gasparde?

Judging by the expressions on everyone else's faces they were probably wondering the exact same thing.

"DON'T TOUCH IT!" Luffy snarled, a raw tone of fear and fury catching at his voice. Kai frowned, he had a _bad_ feeling. He couldn't hear what was being said but he could definitely hear Luffy's reply, "Stop! You touch it, you're a dead man!"

"Just shouting won't protect anything!"

"STOP!"

Lightning flashed and for a split second, Kai felt as though something in Luffy had snapped.

"BASTARD!"

Kai shivered as he felt something change, what was going on up there? Something was wrong with Luffy, Kai could feel him, he was so angry! Beyond furious! _Murderous_.

Of course, Nami chose this moment to figure out what the wind currents had been telling them all along and proceeded to freak out about the encroaching Cyclone.

Wood could be heard shattering and splintering as Luffy bellowed in fury.

Still... watching Luffy use part of the sail rigging to skewer Gasparde five minutes later was pretty awesome.

Sanji jumped onto the ship a split second later.

"Where were you?" Nami demanded.

"Tell you later. Let's get out of here, it's dangerous."

Nami nodded in agreement before pausing, "But... what about Luffy?"

"Wait..." Usopp muttered, looking around. "Weren't you bringing the old man?"

"He's going to blow up the boiler," the Cook explained, confirming Zoro and Kai's theory – not that they particularly wanted it confirmed, especially when they got a look at the expression on the girl's face. "There's less than a minute left."

"SCREW THAT! GO BACK!" she screamed as the ship began to set out, "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE GRANDPA? HOW COULD YOU DO THAT? WHY DID YOU COME BACK WITHOUT HIM?" she wailed tugging desperately on Sanji's arm, her eyes suspiciously bright. "YOU SAID YOU'D RESCUE HIM!"

"What about Luffy?" Usopp repeated.

"We can't help him now. We'll come back later," Sanji explained watching as both Kai and Zoro approached, the former to take the girl and comfort her, the latter cracking the hilt of his Katana into the back of her head – knocking her out.

"Zoro!" Chopper and Kai exclaimed.

"He's better off like this," the swordsman explained mercilessly as the reindeer and the long haired male dropped down at her side.

"How could you do that?" the reindeer demanded, scandalised. "Didn't you notice?" he demanded as the girl's hat fell to the floor, Zoro and Sanji jerking backwards with yelps of alarm and surprise as long chestnut coloured hair tumbled down her back. "This kid... This kid is a girl!"

* * *

The Salamander exploded.

The storm was so bad they couldn't stay on the Merry that night.

They docked at a small uninhabited island not too far away and spent the night in a sheltered inlet, the Merry with her anchor down and several ropes affixing her to the cliff while the rest of them hid away in a cave a little but above the High Tide mark, watching the sea warily for any sign of their Captain or the storm lessening enough for them to go and find him.

It was hard to hide their nervousness, Usopp and Nami were visibly worrying themselves while Chopper busied himself with the girl who was still unconscious, Robin was unrolling a few bed mats for them while Sanji went about making some tea from a camp fire, just to keep his hands busy. Zoro sat at the mouth of the cave, one arm wrapped tight around his swords, the other around Kai's waist as the smaller male meditated.

It was a long and cold wet night.

The only thing Kai could tell them for certain was that Luffy was still alive – unconscious, but alive.

* * *

The next morning dawned with clean blue skies and the clean scent of fresh rain.

Merry was a little roughed up but undamaged, Usopp had a bit of a shock when he woke up to see Kai and Zoro curled up together again, then the girl woke up and all hell broke out as she started to scream and cry and throw rocks at Zoro and Sanji for their '_betrayal_'.

She eventually cried herself out and seemed to just... die a little on the inside as Nami dug out one of her old dresses for her, holding up a towel for the eight year old to get changed away from prying eyes.

It was Usopp who spotted them.

"There's a ship coming!" he called to the group, before smiling at the little girl in the yellow and blue dress as Nami brushed her hair out. "Your grandpa's on it."

For a moment, she looked like she hadn't heard him, but then her eyes widened and she bolted, not even waiting for Nami to remove the brush from her hair and accidentally tearing a few strands out – she didn't notice as she raced to the mouth of the cave and clambered over the rocks to the mouth of the inlet. Wanting to see with her own eyes that it was true, that her Grandpa had survived.

Kai laughed in relief. Luffy was on board as well!

* * *

Kai twiddled his fingers a little, pursing his lips.

Well...

This was awkward.

The kitchen was silent after the girl, Adelle, was told just who the man in yellow was in relation to her, her brother... Shiraiya Bascud – her older brother whom she was separated from at age three when Gasparde burned her home village to the ground, knocked her into the river and murdered her family. Shiraiya thought she had died when in fact she had been plucked from the river by the very man she called Grandpa. Her brother had been hunting Gasparde down to enact his revenge for her perceived death. It was obvious neither of them knew how to speak to one another, or act as siblings do. (Kai could hardly tell them, he doubted his relationship with Mihawk was in anyway an accurate representation of what _normal_ sibling relationships were.)

Luffy was quite literally crying a river at the death of his hat – which was apparently shredded by Gasparde during their fight, prompting the onslaught of murderous rage Kai sensed from his Captain.

"Here," Shiraiya declared, flicking a familiar straw hat at the sobbing seventeen year old.

Luffy lit up at the sight of his best friend, "AHHHH HAT!" he screamed gleefully.

"You said it was important to you, right?" Shiraiya asked as he zipped his jacket up from where he had been carrying it. "It was lying at my feet so I picked it up."

"Thank you! You're a great guy!" Luffy exclaimed – still a little waterlogged and mucus-y, Kai wasn't touching him until he blew his nose. "Nami! Fix it again!" he pleaded stretching the beloved object out to her.

She smiled slightly and took it from him, "Alright, alright."

* * *

"LAND HO!"

Kai smiled as they came up to Partia, another rather Pirate central island – not that anyone from Amba's Sect knew, and he certainly wasn't telling them.

He laughed as the crew promptly burst out into celebration – they _won!_ Three hundred million Belli in the bag!

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper could be seen bouncing around the ship like hyperactive five year olds.

"WAIT EVERYONE! THE MARINES ARE HERE!" Kai shouted, catching sight of the collection of ships.

"Those were the guys who were chasing us during that storm before Hannabal!" Usopp realised.

Kai shook his head as they quickly bundled the old man, Adelle and Shiraiya into their rowboat – the long haired male quickly shoving a letter at the little girl.

"If you guys ever need work, head to Water 7 and give this to the Mayor Iceburg or one of the Galley La Foremen, Paulie or Kaku. They're always looking for Shipwrights and Engineers there," he explained with a laugh. "Tell 'em Kai sent you and that I'm not dead!" he yelled waving at them.

Politely ignoring Nami as she strangled Zoro.

**

* * *

**

(1) Mihawk thinking Kai was eighteen when he left him in East Blue two years ago:

He doesn't know Kai's true age. Kai only found out about actually being eighteen _now_ from Chopper.

**Longest chapter so far. (dead) It will never be repeated – though it probably will knowing me XDD**

**Most of this was from the fourth film, Dead End Adventure. Good luck finding a reliable download of it, though I do suggest watching as I couldn't include Luffy's fight with Gasparde due to the fact this was told from Kai's POV. Meaning he didn't see Luffy snap and go 'SLASHERSMILEOFDOOM'. Which is really creepy.**

**Luffy has the best slasher smile I've seen on any anime character – and he's the most non-murderous character as well. XDD ironic.**

**Beta'd by the ever lovely Stalker of Stories.**

Araceil


End file.
